The Blood Diamond Paradox
by paranaoblue
Summary: Their eyes met, locking in on each other over what would soon become their battlefield…And then it began.
1. Chapter 1: The Teacher and His Student

Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't own the series Naruto and the characters or settings associated with it. The only thing I own is my interpretation of that world and how I choose to utilize it in my story. This disclaimer applies to the whole story so I won't be re-posting it.

Before-you-read warnings: I originally had a super long explanation here but I cut it down to this: if you're not up to date with the manga like I am, you may not want to read this until you have. This story has potential spoilers for people not caught up. You have been warned.

I can't write lemons for crap, guys. FOR CRAP. So just know not to expect one in here.

I'd like to give a big shout-out and many thanks to my idea bouncer, Cyrus, for dealing with me and spending so much time helping me crank out this story. I'd also like to recognize and thank my pre-release double-checker, lisamomisa, for essentially being my guinea pig reader.

* * *

******The Blood Diamond Paradox**

**Chapter 1: The Teacher and His Student**

* * *

"Kakashi. Stop sun-bathing on the roof and get your ass in here."

The man in question was irrefutably lying on the roof outside of the Hokage's window with a book poised over his face trying to catch a quick nap, but he was most certainly not sun-bathing. If he cared more about his self-image, he might have taken offense at the statement. However, since he didn't really, he just sighed at his nap being interrupted.

It was definitely a tree day, Kakashi thought. He really should've gone with a tree instead of the Hokage Tower roof. Another sigh escaped from the silver-haired man. That was what happened when one ignored fate. Next time he would be sure to follow the coin toss results in determining his reading location rather than doing the opposite. Or perhaps next time he wouldn't do a coin toss at all. Then he couldn't go against the results because they wouldn't exist to begin with.

Although he really wanted to ignore the older woman's call, Kakashi also knew that doing so would only cause worse problems for him later. There would be other naps, but an impatient Tsunade was not something that could wait…At least not if he wanted to stay in one piece, which was a condition infinitely preferable. The only time he wanted to be in multiple pieces was when he performed a Kage bunshin no jutsu.

He carefully slipped his well-used book in his back pocket and easily glided into the Hokage's office through the open window.

"You called, Tsunade-sama?" he queried pleasantly.

Kakashi was the very picture of respect, but the blonde woman looked unimpressed.

"Don't you crinkle that eye at me, boy. You're a hundred years too early to think you can pull one over me." She leaned back in her chair and looked at him appraisingly. "So, how much did you hear?"

He didn't even lift an eyebrow at her accusation.

It might have been true that the roof outside the Hokage's office was probably the most understated location in all of Konoha.

Or that Kakashi knew the air conditioning was broken that day and on particularly hot days, like the one they were experiencing, the window was sure to be open; making it easy to hear the goings-on in the office from said location.

And it was possible that earlier in the morning he had seen Anko return from a recon mission he knew she'd been on when he decided to do a coin flip to establish his reading location for the day.

None of those things could have possibly meant that he had purposely lain outside the window to conspicuously listen in, no sir.

However, if Tsunade wanted to take it that way, he would certainly oblige her and answer like a good shinobi subordinate would to his superior.

"I may have heard that Anko's team was able to locate a potential hideout for Kabuto," he started out, forefinger occasionally tapping against his cheek with his exposed eye turned up thoughtfully. "And that you're planning on sending out a secondary recon party to follow up."

The Hokage stared at him over her hands, her chin resting on crisscrossed fingers.

Her earlier words were spoken in her usual curt tone, but the duration he had to endure her hard stare was minimal. She smirked. Tsunade might not have exactly approved of his actions, but she had to hand it to him; he was a gutsy guy. And she respected that trait. Normally she might not have been quite as forgiving, but she let it go simply because it was Kakashi and she knew how he was. He was a damned good shinobi that could do his job well so she had no complaints…except maybe about his choice of reading material, but that was irrelevant to the situation anyway.

"Just as well that I was planning on sending for you anyway. It's rather convenient that the mission you so tactfully overheard is yours, wouldn't you say? But I'm sure you already knew that."

Kakashi nodded, not surprised by that news either. She took note of his affirmation and continued.

"Usually I would send ANBU on this type of mission but you and your team has the most vested interests in Kabuto's whereabouts. He's shown himself as a possible threat to Konoha and we need to take the necessary precautionary measures. It's crucial to find out just how much of Orochimaru's work he's delved into and possibly continued. I trust that you understand the importance of this information. It could be our only chance. Once he knows we're onto him, it'll be much harder to track him again."

It seemed all very common sense, really, but Kakashi knew that she was just saying all the stuff that needed to be said for mission prepping. Tsunade wasn't questioning his ability by emphasizing how dangerous or essential the mission was. It was just standard protocol.

She might try to skirt around her duty on paperwork once and a while, but when she sent her people out on precarious and important missions, she left nothing to chance and held herself to the weight of her position. As the Hokage, Tsunade really looked out for her underlings and did the best she could by them. If nothing else, Kakashi could understand that sentiment.

Ending his brief internal dialogue, he nodded and then asked the next logical question to follow. The Hokage hadn't addressed it yet and probably would've mentioned it next, but he didn't want the prep meeting to drag on more than strictly necessary. Just because he respected her no-nonsense approach didn't mean he wanted to stand through a meeting needlessly, not when there were more important things he could be doing in preparation. He would still have to read the mission scroll later anyway to cover all the missed details. The meeting merely served as the bare intro.

"How many should I take with me?"

Tsunade answered with minor contemplation. Her response was nearly immediate.

"One. This should be a two-man effort."

Kakashi understood her reasoning without it needing to be voiced. Tsunade wanted the team to be as small as possible while still with a responsible number. One person would simply be unreasonable and three was just too much. Although three shinobi was the standard mission team size that didn't mean it wasn't adjustable. More people would make it harder to remain as inconspicuous. Even if they were shinobi, they'd be going against a pretty powerful enemy whose abilities they didn't know all that much about. It would be too big of a risk with less potential benefits. And it was always better to err on the side of caution in their particular business.

Of course, there was the off-chance that they'd be severely outnumbered, but the idea wasn't to engage the enemy. It was a reconnaissance mission so they were info-gathering. If they could get in and get out without being seen, then they'd be successful. Should the enemy sense them at any point in time, their information could be compromised.

Kakashi was also fairly certain that the Hokage already knew who he would pick for his team as well, almost to the point that he felt as if he were walking into a trap. His suspicion was confirmed when instead of inquiring about his chosen partner, she just smiled knowingly. Even so, his answer wouldn't change.

There really wasn't much to debate about in the end. Sakura was a high-level and very capable medic-nin and on top of that, he trusted her. Not to mention there was the added plus that Kakashi had worked with her many times as a member of Team Kakashi and the former Team Seven, so he knew her strengths and weaknesses pretty well. Incidentally, there may also have been the tiny factor that she might bash his head in if she found out that he took a mission related to Kabuto without her. That affected his decision at least a little.

Naruto was never really an option because as much as he liked the kid, stealth missions were not his forte. Surprising people might have been good in a pinch, but Kakashi was aiming to prevent such a necessity to begin with. Bringing Naruto could turn out counterproductive on this type of mission.

Once the team size had been determined, Kakashi only had one other question.

"When do we leave?"

The Hokage looked him straight in the eye as she spoke. "Immediately."

* * *

It was always on the extraordinarily hot and sunny days that Kakashi found himself traveling. He might've sighed if he hadn't already been used to it. Standard-issue clothing was usually pretty resilient, but it often worked a bit better against cold than heat.

He only had to finish his food and clean up after himself and then he would be on his way. He was pretty close to on-time if he said so himself. Only twenty minutes behind the meeting time.

Even though it was the last full meal he'd be able to have in a while, he ate something small and simple that consisted only of a single bowl of rice topped with some furikake seasoning. The food wasn't much, but it was satisfying enough. It was not prescribed to eat large amounts of food before missions because they could cause indigestion from the rapid and continuous traveling. Ninjas had many assets that regular civilians did not possess, but iron stomachs were based on genetics, not training. And not everyone was blessed with Naruto's stomach, which could handle ramen everyday three meals a day.

Kakashi was not looking forward to his future diet of soldier pills but it really was the best type of nourishment for a ninja during a mission such as the one he and Sakura would go on. It wasn't a mission of length and comfort, after all. The priorities were stealth, speed, and information.

He had been surprised to see that afternoon that Sakura was later than him as she was a naturally punctual person; he even ventured to guess that she probably always arrived early so she would have no chance of being late.

Kakashi hadn't been the one to set up the meeting time, so he assumed that he'd just gotten the time wrong and didn't bother to check. He took the new development in stride and merely propped himself down under the shade of a nearby tree and took out his book without deeper contemplation. Any extra time to read _Icha Icha_ in peace was a blessing.

Around an hour later, Kakashi could hear her as she came running and looked up to see Sakura carrying a small basket of soldier pills. Kakashi quickly tried to prepare an excuse to politely reject her most likely soon-to-be-delivered generous offer of sustenance. A few seconds later he realized that he really hadn't needed to make an excuse at all. It was the truth that he had eaten relatively recently. And he started to say so, too.

Sakura wasn't oblivious to how many people were afraid of her cooking. It wasn't that she was a bad cook either; she was quite decent in fact. At least according to the people who'd actually tried her food. She'd just never been able to live down the one instance when she'd made soldier pills for Naruto when he was training by the waterfall to use his wind element. It had been her first time making it too.

Anyone could have made the same mistake. Soldier pills served as nourishment. They were meant to be super nutrient-rich. In the process of making them, she had known there was the possibility they would turn out to be on the bitter side because of this fact. What she hadn't anticipated was the extent of that bitterness. Sakura had been so focused on doing what she could for Naruto in a timely manner that she'd completely forgotten to try them until later. By the time she'd tried them, Naruto had downed the lot of them so she couldn't very well take them back and re-make them.

In any case, somehow, the news spread like wildfire, and from then on her cooking became as famed and feared as her Tsunade-level strength. Therefore, she had expected such a reaction from her former teacher and smiled sweetly at Kakashi, although he could tell it was at least half forced.

"Before you refuse, I'll have you know that Hinata made these, not me."

If Sakura's food was shunned on a preconceived notion of taste, Hinata had a reputation for making delicious foods. The Hyuuga heir seemed to have some culinary genius in her. Kakashi had never personally eaten the other girl's cooking, but he'd heard many praises sung from enough reliable sources to believe what was said. How someone could make soldier pills taste good was beyond him, though.

Some people believed that her skill was related to the byakugan, citing the reasoning that if the bloodline limit allowed the clan members to see far, it could veritably be used to see things up close as well; possibly in very large detail, perhaps allowing the user to see components of ingredients that the naked eye could not see. In Kakashi's opinion, it was more probable that the girl just had the talent in the kitchen. His evidence was based simply on the fact that not all Hyuuga clan members could cook.

"Well in that case—" Kakashi's hand was slapped away from the basket by Sakura's. Her smirk was firmer and definitely carried a more satisfied gleam than the previous rendition of a smile.

"You were saying that you just ate, Kakashi-sensei?"

Sakura had spoken in a silky sweet voice. It was never good when she spoke in those honeyed tones. He knew that from experience. One wrong move could lead to an explosion. Even grumpy Sakura (let alone full-on angry Sakura) was hard to deal with because her energy would somehow charge the air. Kakashi wondered if there were certain properties of perfect chakra control that could be studied to explain the phenomenon…or perhaps it was just something unique to her. Not to mention there was also the unconsciously used super strength she employed when she got into one of those moods. It was only a third of her scariness, to be honest. And he very much valued his life.

Kakashi saw the trap he'd been put in. If he verified his earlier interrupted statement that he had in fact already eaten, then there was no reason for him to try any of the pills, which would be quite tragic. If he said he hadn't, then it would be as good as admitting that he had intentionally lied to her because he didn't want to eat her cooking. A Catch-22. He would've applauded her genius if she hadn't used the trap on him. Kakashi supposed he should have been proud as one of her mentors, but he couldn't muster the feeling.

As a smart ninja would, he decided to err on the side of caution and admit he had eaten, but before he started to speak, Sakura held out a pill in his direction. He stared at her outstretched hand in surprise, wondering if the meaning of the gesture had changed since he'd last been on the receiving end of it.

"Aren't you going to accept it, sensei?"

Kakashi hesitated. Then Sakura laughed, picked up his hand and dropped the soldier pill into it.

"I was just playing with you, Kakashi-sensei. Since you probably just ate your usual pre-mission fare of furikake rice then it'll probably be better to supplement it with that. Hinata's been making several different kinds of soldier pills. The one I just gave you isn't meant to be the replacement of a whole meal, but it should certainly provide sufficient nutrients to give us a jump-start boost of energy."

There was a brief pause before she started speaking again, her tone a little more subdued.

"Shishou already briefed me. I understand it that we're to leave as soon as possible."

He still felt a little hesitant while staring at the small black ball in his hand, but Sakura was already busying herself with the task of putting the remaining soldier pills into her traveling pack so he chanced it and tossed the pill into his mouth, biting down firmly. If it was terrible, at least it would be over with faster.

Kakashi needn't have worried. It was surprisingly chewy and warm with just a touch of stickiness, which was an odd texture and temperature for a soldier pill. If he had to describe it, he would've likened it to freshly made mochi with a bit of lightly sweetened red bean paste in the center, except the exterior and interior were blended together in such a way that one couldn't be separated from the other. He chewed on the rest of it (which wasn't a lot considering it was a soldier pill) thoughtfully. Kakashi decided that he agreed with everyone else's assessment of the Hyuuga's superb cooking skills.

He found himself envying her team a little and then winced slightly at the direction of his thoughts. As discreetly as possible, his eyes shifted quickly back and forth at the pink-haired girl, trying to make sure that she didn't somehow catch his expression and read his stray thought from it.

She was a tad bit touchy about her cooking and he didn't want to actually upset her when the situation earlier had been a false alarm. Kakashi was not an easy person to read, but he'd been finding that lately, Sakura was able to read some of his more mundane thoughts. And it almost always had to do with unflattering things related to her. He was lucky this time and found her not paying him any attention at all.

When Sakura finished zipping up her pack, she placed it securely around her waist and then turned to him and apologized for being late without him even enquiring about it. Something about being held up at the hospital because a bleeding-to-death patient had been brought in last minute. At least he was able to find out that he'd been right about the meeting time. It was irrelevant that he'd been late for that time anyway.

Unlike his creative responses to the usual question thrown his way, hers sounded like a decent and reliable excuse. In fact, she had already stopped asking him what made him late. Kakashi was pretty sure he'd used up all the usual excuses on her anyway, but it certainly saved him the effort of creating new ones.

She tried to cover up her unhappiness at being late, but he wasn't really complaining about her tardiness anyway. He'd used the time to read _Icha Icha_ for the extra hour. He didn't say that last part out loud, but he did tell her that her unusual tardiness was alright because he knew it would make her feel marginally less upset.

Had she not volunteered the reason behind her lateness, Kakashi probably wouldn't have asked her about it at all because he knew that if there was a legitimate reason she would tell him. And if there wasn't, well…that wasn't really a problem either. He certainly made her wait many more times than she did him. With that settled, they started into the forest for their mission.

* * *

Sakura had seemed generally high-spirited in the village despite knowing the details of the mission, but out in the wilderness when they were actually on said mission, she was all seriousness; maybe even a little anxious and nervous at times. The mood was staggeringly different from earlier but not unexpected. Missions were serious business after all.

She was usually exceptionally cheery and playful before a mission of extreme undertaking. He supposed it was her way of coping with the stress that was to come. It was also an indication to him that she was really concentrating. Sakura put all her effort into each mission she went on with him (and he doubted she gave any less on the missions she went on without him), but how she acted before the real mission start was typically the way he could gauge how she personally felt about the mission. Based on their earlier interaction, he knew this was a big deal to her. He didn't expect any less.

Kakashi and Sakura easily slipped into the flow of being on a mission. They would take the occasional break, pop a soldier pill in their mouths when necessary, and sleep in shifts. It had gone on like that for several days but they were making steady progress. Kakashi estimated that they would arrive at the designated location by midday the day after.

While he sat by the fire during his watch shift one night, he thought about how much his life had changed within the past several years. Kakashi looked briefly over at the sleeping form of Sakura and thought about the girl she used to be and the young woman she had become, with great enough ability to go on a two-man mission of this caliber.

That successively led to thoughts of his first and only genin team. The nature of Sakura and Naruto's friendship had worked out for the best. The girl may not have held much affection for the boy in the beginning, but Kakashi knew that she had developed a genuine fondness for him as time went by, much like he had for his team.

It was sometimes hard to believe how much time had passed and how much they had all grown in both maturity and skill. He supposed it might have been a little bit like how parents felt when they realized their children had grown up, although he dismissed the thought soon after it came into existence because he was much too young to be a parent figure. It simply wasn't how he viewed them and their relationship.

Perhaps he was more like the sometimes appearing older brother who had already moved out of the family home and was making his own way in life?...He was probably over-thinking if his mind was trying to paint some type of simile in that much detail. There really didn't need to be a comparison between their team relationship and a typical other one.

Thinking about the past in general got Kakashi thinking about another team with a different leader much more charismatic than himself. Kakashi often found himself comparing his first solid team to his current one. Although he hadn't been with them long, it was safe to say that his time with Minato-sensei, Obito, and Rin had really changed him.

When the Akatsuki member with the orange mask had introduced himself as Uchiha Madara, it all made sense at the same time that it hadn't made any sense at all. Kakashi couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong about the whole thing, although he couldn't put his finger on why. He had thought Deidara had called him "Tobi" when they had been partners, but that had no relation to Uchiha Madara in any way. The only person whose name might have remotely been related to that was Obito, but—

Kakashi shook his head to clear his thoughts. Obito was dead, no matter how much he might have wanted him to be alive. It was impossible that Uchiha Madara was anyone but who he said he was. He was just over-thinking it because of the shock of the announcement that Madara was alive combined with his earlier rumination about his teams. Despite his entirely reasonable rationalization, his thoughts couldn't help but go into the same direction and Kakashi had a niggling feeling that he was clearly missing something important…

"Kakashi-sensei."

The soft voice interrupted his thoughts and he turned to his exhausted-looking pink-haired companion, who had been unable to cover up the sleepiness inherent in a person who had just woken up.

"It's time to switch watch," she continued saying when they made eye contact.

He nodded and walked wordlessly over to his laid out sleeping bag that was only a few steps away. As he plopped down and secured the material around him, Kakashi willed himself to temporarily forget his thoughts and worries, and then surrendered himself to sleep.

* * *

The next morning the cycle continued. Their supply of soldier pills was still pretty substantial, but it was a good thing they were close to their destination as the pills had a tendency to run out faster near the end as a result of pressure and fatigue. They were a little over the halfway point.

Double-checking that the area where they had stayed the night before looked nothing like anyone had been there, once satisfied, Kakashi and Sakura continued on their way.

As they got closer to their destination, he motioned for her to slow down and stop so they could formulate a plan. When they actually got there, they could adjust the plan as necessary, but they needed one to begin with. They hadn't explicitly talked about it yet, but as they had worked together before, the division of work was likely to follow the same pattern.

He would venture into the complex for closer inspection while Sakura would stake out the area and be on guard for other suspicious activity. She would watch out and prepare for the potentiality of traps because as careful as they were, it was possible the enemy already knew they were there. They had to be prepared for such a scenario to plan a course of action to follow if that proved to be the case.

They stopped in a small clearing completely covered by the heavy shade of large trees a little ways in front of what looked to be an old lair of Orochimaru. Kakashi turned to look at Sakura.

"Do not engage the enemy if at all possible, understood?"

He was essentially doing the same as Tsunade had done earlier. They both understood that as a general rule of thumb reconnaissance missions tried to remain inconspicuous and unknown, but as team leader, it was expected that he make sure she knew the procedures and what was to be done.

"Got it."

"Alright. I'm going in. Cover me." This time, her only response was a nod. Mission time was on.

With that, he slowly started to make his way to the entrance of the building. Once inside, he continued to travel progressively deeper. Every time he searched a room and would find nothing that stood out he would move on. The air felt old and stagnant inside and he really didn't really want to think about the past horrors that had most likely been committed there. The thought alone was enough to make his skin crawl. If he had been a less seasoned shinobi, it might have even elicited a cough or gag.

After an extended time of probing and searching, it was so quiet and devoid of life that Kakashi was ready to turn back and report that it was simply an abandoned hut and their information had been outdated because Kabuto was no longer there.

Kakashi's only warning was hearing a powerful force of suction to his left and he dodged the fist headed towards his side. He recognized the power and who it belonged to.

"I would say, 'long time no see,' but it really hasn't been long enough."

"If that was your attempt at being witty, Hatake Kakashi, you failed miserably," Uchiha Madara replied, talking through his ever present orange mask. Their eyes met, locking in on each other over what would soon become their battlefield.

Kakashi shrugged and casually made a move to uncover his sharingan.

"I was merely stating a fact. If I were trying to be funny, you'd know."

"No matter. You won't be alive much longer any way."

"Is that so?" Kakashi's face carried an expression in between thoughtful and skeptical. "We'll just have to see about that, won't we?"

And then it began. Without answering or giving his opponent much time to react, Madara disappeared and then reappeared closer to Kakashi, trying to get a hit on him.

He was too fast. Kakashi wasn't slow by any means, but Madara's corporeal to non-corporeal ability was allowing him to teleport, making him much faster. Kakashi was keeping up, but just barely, and he definitely did not have the upper hand. He was only defending and had no time to form a plan, which put him at a distinct disadvantage.

It had been different in the past when they'd run into him with the group because even though they had seemed to be overall ineffective, each person was able to provide some distraction, which was something Kakashi didn't have at that moment. Sakura was too far outside so it was unlikely that she even knew such a conflict was going on, so he couldn't count on reinforcements. Based on the enemy, however, he might not have wanted to call on her anyway.

Taijustsu was out because Madara's ability allowed him to dodge physical attacks. Although Kakashi could do it fairly quickly, ninjutsu required at least some time to make seals and that was time he didn't have. Kamui was probably his only hope of really striking some damage, but his attack was predominantly meant for long-range and sometimes mid-range, and it was very much a close-range battle. He wouldn't have the time to concentrate the sharingan's chakra where it needed to go if he had to spend so much time moving about evading everything thrown his way.

However, he knew his train of thought wasn't wrong and he was onto something. Why couldn't he use Kamui in close range? He had never done it before, but there was a first for everything. And perhaps his closeness to Madara would make it easier, in a way, because his target would be that much closer to him and therefore much larger as a result. It would allow for a larger margin of error. In any case, it was certainly worth a try and was really his only option at that point.

Kakashi sacrificed a rather hard hit to his left shoulder in order to gain the split second of time needed to lock the sharingan on Madara's person. Then he activated his mangekyou power, Kamui.

The last thing he remembered was seeing the red and black of Madara's sharingan, glowing more brightly and ominously than before, bleeding into him. Then Kakashi found the world around him blend together into a single blur of nothingness and he disappeared.

* * *

Outside, there was a loud explosion. The ground and surrounding area shook the same time as the door of the building blasted off its hinges and was completely blown apart. Sakura looked on at the scene in horror and shock. Just before the blast, nothing had seemed out of the ordinary and then suddenly everything was in pieces.

Her heart pounded painfully in her chest, searching for any sign of her partner. She scanned the sight in front of her and zeroed in on a figure.

On the ground in front of the resulting opening, she saw the body of a man amid the debris, but was unable to see clearly through the smoke and dust who it was.

* * *

A/N:

1) The mission in question is kind of like a combination of two Anko missions featured in the anime (I don't know if or when it appeared in the manga): the one she took with Yamato/Tenzou and Sai that was briefly shown during the Pain invasion of Konoha when they were looking for Kabuto and the one she takes with other shinobi (which had Hyuuga Tokuma and Aburame Muta in their numbers) a little before the Fourth Shinobi World War. I think the second one was dubbed the Infiltration and Reconnaissance Party by Narutopedia.

2) Speaking of the Fourth Shinobi World War, just so you know, I won't be writing about it at all simply because I think it places a sense of urgency and really complicates the whole thing in a way I don't want to deal with. It's also because I just want to write about the general lull of Konoha in a normal everyday type of setting. You could think of it as a giant filler episode if you want. If you're into extreme action and lots of cool and convoluted stuff happening, read the manga. Or watch the anime. Take your pick.

3) Also, I super suck at writing fight scenes, I know. It needed to be done in this chapter, so I did it, but it was obviously hugely condensed and not well done. I apologize for that.


	2. Chapter 2: The Painter and His Agent

Pre-chapter A/N: Half of me is completely aghast that I'm even considering posting this chapter let alone actually doing it, but I'm finding that as time goes by there are fewer reasons to not post what I already have written. Unfortunately, this will inevitably mean that there's going to be a super long break between Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 since as of right now, I've (still) only completed up to Chapter 3. For a while, I was planning on posting Chapter 1 and 2 on the same day anyway, so this is just a significantly longer break.

I know I'm saying all this like I'm posting this chapter really soon after the previous one, which obviously isn't the case, but since I haven't written more and have only been editing, then the amount of things I have left to post is only decreasing, which saddens me.

If you're confused for a while, that was completely on purpose.

* * *

**The Blood Diamond Paradox**

**Chapter 2: The Painter and His Agent**

* * *

"Kakashi-sensei. If you don't open this door right now you'll be really sorry."

There was no answer. If Sakura were a more patient person, she might have given him a few more minutes to contemplate her words, but she knew from experience that the extra time wouldn't have made much of a difference anyway. She stared at the unfamiliar lock in front of her and sighed.

This was not the first time (it was actually the third time, to be exact) that Kakashi opted to change the locks on his bedroom door, but he really should've figured out by now that a locked door wouldn't stop her. She took out a lock-picking kit from her bag and got to work. The kit was of course one she had made herself because no self-respecting law-abiding citizen would ever sell such a thing, but that didn't make it any less effective. In two minutes flat she heard the satisfying click of the lock opening.

When she turned the doorknob, Kakashi was standing on the other side of the door, looking like he'd just woken up. She couldn't really judge how long he'd been awake by his hair because it always rather looked like he had just woken up, or by the sleepy look in his eyes and lazy posture that were always present, but there were other telltale signs. Kakashi scratched his head in his usual sloth-like manner. He was surprisingly already out of bed, which was unusual. She'd consider that a form of progress.

"I thought I just changed the locks," Kakashi said in the most deadpan tone he could muster, staring at the pink-haired figure standing in the very open doorway.

"You did," Sakura answered cheerfully, tucking away her handy kit back into her bag like it was perfectly normal to carry something like that around. His eyes followed it until it was completely out of sight.

"Do I even want to know where you learned that particular skill?"

Sakura shrugged. "Probably not."

Kakashi gave a long suffering sigh. "Are there any other secret techniques you're hiding that I should be aware of?"

The edges of her mouth quirked up into a light grin. "If I told you, they wouldn't be secret anymore, now would they?" Still standing in his doorway, she casually changed the topic, smile not quite dropping, but definitely not holding the same authentic quality as the previous one. "So, sensei, how's that painting coming along?" Her cheerful tone couldn't underlie the steel present in her voice at the not-so-innocent and completely unsubtle question. It was time to get to business.

Kakashi looked straight at her and then pointedly looked in a different direction. His body language gave it all away.

"AGAIN?!" Sakura's tone came out harsher than she wanted it to be so she stopped speaking and took a few seconds to compose herself a little. Then she tried again a bit more civilly while still stressing the direness of the situation. "Kakashi-sensei, please be reasonable. The deadline's the day after tomorrow! I've already asked Tsunade-shachou for an extension _two_ times! She'll have my head for this. And I'll have you know that if I die, I'm taking you down with me; in the most unpleasant way possible."

He waved it off like it wasn't a big deal, switching from slightly guilty to nonchalant in the time it took her to speak.

"Don't worry about it so much. You know I'm Tsunade's favorite."

Sakura scoffed. "You're delusional. You know how much of a hard-ass she is when it comes to the exhibitions. Even if she likes you, she'll never forgive you if you don't finish on time."

"I always finish on time." She gave him a pointed look. "Well, mostly on time," he corrected.

"Sensei," she nearly whined, almost wanting to tear out all her hair just to spite him by leaving a pink mess on the floor along with relieving some stress. However, she would then be hairless and she'd have to be the one to clean up the mess anyway, so in the end the only person who'd be inconvenienced from her tantrum-based action would be herself. It was really unfortunate for Sakura that she couldn't even finish planning out a whole hypothetical thought of pure wish fulfillment before her realistic side starting kicking in.

Sure, his paintings always made it to the gallery on time, but usually at _her_ expense. He would sometimes finish it so close before the exhibition that she'd have to bring it there herself by some random means (she once hired a garbage truck off the street) before the paint even managed to completely dry. And then he would cop out on attending said exhibition to catch up on much needed sleep while she'd be left apologizing to her boss for her artist not showing up _again_.

"I need a new job," she mumbled, mostly to herself, turning away from his doorway and heading back to the living room.

Kakashi followed her casually as if he wasn't aware that she was trying to get some space away from him in particular.

"Aw, Sakura, don't be that way. You know I'm a completely reliable person. Have I ever let you down?"

"Yes. Lots of times," she answered without hesitation..

He looked to the side thoughtfully while considering his next words and then brought his attention back to her. "Okay, let me rephrase that. Have I ever _not_ completed a painting when I said I would?"

Her response came much slower this time while she contemplated.

"No," she finally replied grudgingly, still not facing him.

"And there you go. Everything's fine. You have absolutely nothing to worry about."

He was smiling that awful smile of his where his eyes would crinkle pleasantly. She supposed it was meant to be encouraging, but to Sakura it brought on a feeling of dread. Knowing Kakashi, that smile meant only one thing. It was worse than she had originally thought.

"You haven't even started it yet, have you?" She'd been afraid to ask the question but needed the confirmation anyway.

His smile turned sheepish and he lifted his left arm to scratch the back of his head lightly, ruffling his already messy hair even more.

"Was it that obvious?"

During the few seconds of their conversation, she had unintentionally stopped walking and thus hadn't yet reached the couch. Deciding to rectify that matter, without another word, Sakura finished her procession to the couch, plopped down on it, grabbed the nearest pillow and screamed into it.

Doomed. She was so, so doomed. It was a good thing she wasn't planning on going into the art business post-graduation, because if she had been, she'd have to toss that idea out the window. She'd never be able to show her face in the art world ever again. Thinking about the art business brought up another problem that had been on her mind lately, but she didn't have the luxury to worry about it just then. She had more pressing problems to deal with, such as needing to continue screaming into the pillow to vent before she accidentally hurt Kakashi for what he put her through.

Not accurately sensing her distress as usual, the bane of her existence casually walked over to where she was and sat down next to her in the open space on her right. Then he patted her shoulder reassuringly.

"You could at least have the decency to act remorseful, you know," she said through the pillow, not bothering to lift her head, letting the pillow muffle her voice. So it was quite possible he hadn't heard what she said at all. She didn't care either way.

"You seem very distressed, Sakura-chan. Can I help?"

She couldn't tell if what he said meant he had heard her previous sentence or not. It didn't matter that much anyway as the situation was still the same.

"If you're so worried about me, do something useful, like start your damn painting," Sakura grumbled.

"Well you see, it's not that easy…" Kakashi trailed off. She finally looked up now that they were getting somewhere, as if encouraging him to go on. He rubbed the back of his head guiltily (again). "The thing is…I kind of ran out of paint."

A look of pure horror passed over her face.

"Please tell me that you did _not_ just say the only reason you haven't started your painting is because you didn't buy paint."

"Well, I suppose in that case it might be better if I didn't say anything at all, then."

There was a few seconds grace of silence before she exploded.

"HATAKE KAKASHI, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?! JUST WHAT IS _WRONG_ WITH YOU!?"

* * *

Half an hour later, after much scolding and yelling, Kakashi found himself in a paint shop with his agent, Sakura. His allergies had been acting up lately (which he justified as one reason why he avoided going out to buy paint to begin with) so he donned a medical mask to block out some of the nasty little particles that irritated his nose. It worked for the most part but it was just easier to not go out at all. Sakura had made it very clear that she didn't agree with that assertion. His ears still rang a little with the aftermath of just how much she didn't agree.

Unfortunately, buying paint was one of those things he couldn't convince her to do for him as he had to choose the colors himself. Dictating that to someone else, even to someone as capable as Sakura, just wouldn't do. He trusted her with a lot of things, but the girl had no eye for color differentiation. Of course she could tell the drastically different colors apart like most people, but when it got to the more subtle differences in hue that became harder on the eye to tell apart from each other, she got stuck. He didn't really blame her for it, especially since many people not artistically inclined had a hard time with hue distinction. It was just an inconvenience.

It was partially his fault anyway, having nothing to do with hue distinction, of why she was unable to get the right colors. Quite simply he often didn't know what he wanted or needed until he got to the store. Even if he did know, he couldn't remember the intricate names given to them by the shops or factories or whoever the hell named the paint colors because he gave them their own names in his mind. Or maybe he didn't name them at all. It was a matter of visualization, not language.

So it really wasn't Sakura's fault that he had to buy his own paint (and was usually too lazy to get it), but he could pretend it was. Especially since she had essentially dragged him out of his apartment in order to run the errand and she was surveying over him like a watchdog to make sure he wasn't slacking off. How one could slack off while buying paint was a mystery, but perhaps it had to do with leisurely going through the colors. Since her eyes were trained on him, it made it harder to peruse the selection of colors by meandering about, after all.

Not the first time, Kakashi found himself thinking about how she could handle being around him so often. Particularly because he knew he wasn't an easy person to deal with. Kakashi fit the eccentric artist almost to a T. In fact, he almost took pride in the fact that he knew the only reason she put up with him at all was because of her job. He knew that if they had met any other way, she wouldn't have taken _crap_ from him. As it was, it was her job and she _did_ take it from him. Kakashi almost found a poetic irony in it. So he basked in it while he could.

"Sakura, is that you?" a distinctly feminine voice called out.

Kakashi turned to see a girl and boy standing behind them. The girl had long blond hair and blue-green eyes and the boy had his dark hair pulled back in tight a ponytail, looking markedly bored with the world.

"Ah, Ino, it's been a while," Sakura replied with a smile. "What have you been up to since high school?"

"Not much. Same old same old. You?"

"I'm alright. School's kicking my ass, though." Ino's expression turned incredulous.

"You? Impossible! You've always been a good student."

"I didn't say I wasn't doing fine with grades and all," Sakura corrected. "It's just that in order to maintain those grades, I have to sacrifice much sleep."

"Now that sounds more like the Sakura I know. Ever the perfectionist. Do you dorm or have your own place?"

"My own place. It's just more comfortable that way, you know?"

"I hear you. I've been trying to find a new roommate after my last one ditched on me."

"That's junk." Sakura thanked her lucky stars that her apartment was small, comfortable, and affordable enough for her to not need a roommate (or even have space for one. She lived in a studio apartment).

"Yeah, you're telling me. Tenten said something about getting married to some guy." Ino rolled her eyes at the end of her statement.

"Uh, Ino…I think that's a pretty legitimate reason to bail out…?"

"So I've been told countless times by multiple people…" Ino let out a long-suffering sigh. "Hey, Sakura, can't you just sympathize with me? Everyone else can be the voices of reason."

Sakura steeled her expression into the epitome of sympathy.

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"SAKURA," Ino whined, "that's completely not what I meant and you know it."

"What? I did exactly what you asked me to do. You never said anything about needing to be serious about it."

"ARGH. Why am I even friends with you?"

"I believe it's because you liked my hair when we were 4-years-old and then proceeded to try and eat it since you thought it was cotton candy."

The blonde looked affronted.

"I was a child!" Ino protested.

"So was I," Sakura said pointedly.

"And it was pink," Ino countered.

Sakura gestured towards her head. "It still is if you haven't noticed."

There was a brief pause as Ino tried to change tactics, noticing very wisely that she was not winning that particular argument.

"Sakura," Ino started out very seriously, "you know normal people don't remember those kinds of things."

"Ino," Sakura said just as seriously, "you tried to EAT MY HAIR. That's not exactly something that's easy to forget for a child. Also," she added, "once I brought it up, you remembered it too. That makes you just as abnormal as me if we abide by your definition."

"Touché," Ino conceded. And then, needing to have the last word, she added, "It didn't taste very good, by the way."

Sakura laughed lightly. "I should hope not. I'm pretty sure I hadn't had a bath yet so I would greatly question your sense of taste otherwise."

Ino snorted. "You make it sound like that would've made a huge difference."

Sakura shrugged. "Of course. I believe my mom was into using berry flavored shampoo at the time," she said like that was explanation enough.

They both realized it was a ridiculous argument but could've carried on with it anyway, continually trying to one up the other in a never-ending cycle, because that was just how their friendship was. Since it was the first time they'd seen each other in a while, Ino decided to opt out of the usual exchange for the sake of keeping the peace and preventing the possible break out of a much longer and more heated argument.

"And you probably have a whole other story about why you remember that little detail as well." Ino's statement closed off that avenue of conversation.

When the focus was no longer on Sakura, Ino saw a slight movement of silver a little behind her friend and realized it was the hair of the man she had seen Sakura with earlier. He seemed to be absorbed in looking through various paint shades in the aisle. "So who's the masked stud?"

"INO!" Shocked, Sakura admonished her friend and dearly hoped Kakashi hadn't heard the other girl's comment.

"What?" the blonde replied innocently. "It's just a simple question. Is he your boyfriend or something?"

"NO." Unconsciously, Sakura started to slightly steer Ino slowly in the opposite direction of Kakashi. "I just work with him."

"Oh, I see. Well, that's boring then." Sakura rolled her eyes at the comment. Speaking of boys, it was then that she remembered seeing a familiar dark-haired male tag along beside Ino when she'd first seen her in the store.

"You came in with Shikamaru, didn't you?"

"I did. What's that got to do with anything?"

"So are you guys seeing each other now or something?"

"Of course not," Ino said while waving a hand flippantly in denial. "He's just helping me out with something."

Knowing that Ino was far more experienced in the realm of boys and relationships, Sakura couldn't tell if her remark had been made in truth or if Ino really _was_ dating her long-time childhood friend and was just so well-versed in the game that it was easy to deny such a simple inquiry like it was silly. She decided to tactfully change subjects.

"Speaking of that, what brings you to this side of town? Isn't your neurosurgeon prep school really far from here?"

"Actually…Sakura, can you keep a secret?" The question was more of a cue than an actual question because without giving Sakura a real chance to respond, Ino looked around conspiratorially and leaned closer to Sakura's ear with a hand by her mouth as if to block the sound of her next words. "I'm planning on dropping out of med school and going into fashion designing. The school I'm looking into is close by."

"WHAT?" The other girl covered her pink-haired friend's mouth even though the damage had already been done. Luckily no one was really around, but it had still been a rather loud exclamation.

"So much for tact, Sakura," Ino chided and then released her hand soon after.

"Sorry. That was just really unexpected. I mean…isn't pretty much your whole family a bunch of neurosurgeons?"

"They are," Ino stated nonchalantly. "You could even say it's the family business." She had said it in the tone of someone having said the same statement on more than one occasion.

"But Ino, won't your father be really upset?" Sakura's voice had unintentionally gotten a little softer, perhaps as a means to sort of make up for her earlier outburst. Ino waved off the other girl's concern.

"He'll get over it. Why does everyone in our family need to continue that one practice, anyway? It's not his life, it's mine. Sometimes you need to fight for what's important to you. I mean look at me, I obviously have talent for fashion, don't you think?"

Sakura was sure it was meant to be a rhetorical question, but she did find herself looking at Ino's outfit. Ino had always been a fashionista. She was well-dressed and would fearlessly experiment with new styles. The latter choice had often started fads in their old high school, so there was no doubt that Ino was a trendsetter when it came to fashion.

Sakura was suddenly roused from her thoughts by the sound of her name being said close to her right ear…a little too close. Slowly, she turned her head to investigate the source of the sound and found herself up close and personal with Kakashi's face. He was slightly slouched so his head was level to hers, making it even closer than usual. Sakura jumped back but Ino didn't really react and instead she watched their interaction in interest. Trying to recover, Sakura glared at the offending figure.

"Kakashi! You're such a creeper! What do you think you're doing, sneaking up on us like that?"

"I just thought I'd let you know that the black-haired gentleman that came in with your friend here looks to be standing in line to ring up some stuff at the register," he answered calmly, his finger pointing ever so slightly in the direction of the registers.

Ino's eyes shot to that location and immediately started rushing towards it when his statement was confirmed. She looked back briefly and waved while running.

"I have to go now! I'll see you around then, Sakura!"

Sakura waved back as she heard Ino's raised voice from a distance scolding Shikamaru for attempting to pay for her supplies. It trailed off before she heard the rest but she was sure Ino was giving him a piece of her mind.

She then looked at Kakashi, all business once more. If her attention hadn't been so intently focused on him again, he might have sighed. He had only been granted a short reprieve from the task at hand. All traces of warmth that might have emerged from the conversation with her long-time friend disappeared without a trace. When she spoke, it had a deadly, no-nonsense edge. "YOU. What do you need?"

* * *

Contrary to belief, it wasn't always (because yes, sometimes he did do it) that Kakashi waited until the last minute to start his paintings. He actually worked on them quite often throughout the day. Sometimes he even started some "early," as in right after he finished a previous one. He couldn't control or choose when inspiration struck and he often ran out of steam. One day Kakashi would be painting almost all day without taking any real breaks and other times he'd lie around trying to become inspired. Sakura usually caught him when he was in the latter mood, which was probably one of the things that cemented her perception of him slacking. It certainly didn't help that he had other peculiarities as well.

For instance, Kakashi didn't like phones. He didn't have a landline and had no intention of ever getting one. What was convenient for most people was decidedly inconvenient for him, but Sakura forced him to get a cell phone at least. She put her number in as speed dial 1, deciding that she was probably the person he would need to contact the most. She also added his favorite take-out places, the post office, the police, his doctor, etc. with the rest of the slots available. Basically, she had input all the emergency and handy contacts that he actually didn't mind having in his phone.

She even made a laminated list of the corresponding speed dial numbers for him to refer to in case he forgot what was what, which happened often. It was useful when he remembered where he put it. Even so, Kakashi sometimes forgot to take his phone with him when he went out, so Sakura put a slip of paper with her cell number in his wallet (she knew there was absolutely no way he'd memorize her number), because that was pretty much the only thing he never forgot to bring with him.

He also had a bad tendency to leave his phone on silent or off completely because he didn't like to be disturbed when he was working and he wasn't contacted often to begin with. He had always said that no one really contacted him, which was generally true, but it was even truer that the people that _did_ want to call him were often the people he didn't want to speak with. This was why Sakura had to come see him in person to communicate with him on a daily basis. It was the most efficient way. Sometimes it was even the _only_ way. Most of the other agents didn't have to pay their artists quite as many house calls as she did.

Kakashi could say with certainty that she spoiled him. Shizune, his previous agent, hadn't dealt with him with half the care that Sakura did. Of course, he was definitely taking advantage of the younger girl's willingness to go so far, but that didn't change the fact that she did it all the same. It wasn't that he couldn't do things on his own, he just usually preferred not to. She knew that as well, but he thought perhaps she had gotten used to babying him, which suited Kakashi just fine.

Sakura seemed to possess a nature that was pretty much his opposite and it bugged her to leave things undone or half-finished when it could quite easily be done right that minute to save trouble later. Kakashi was simply a lazy person so Sakura had to work twice as hard to make up for it. There were times when he fully intended to do something but she would just beat him to it.

It was a slow Friday afternoon when he ventured out of his cave, or in other words, his home. Sakura had dubbed it "his cave" because she likened him to a hibernating bear sometimes. In a rare moment of magnanimity, Kakashi had decided to pay a visit to Sakura at her workplace as a flip to their usual routine. He regularly had the poor girl running after him all the time and he realized what a hassle that had to be for her.

Most days he wouldn't think much of it, but since he had nothing better to do and had finished his work early for once, he thought it would be good to let her know and perhaps spare her having to take the extra trip to his apartment.

Kakashi had never been to the main office before and so he didn't know his way around. When Tsunade had hired him, she had personally taken a trip to see him. She figured that since he'd had no phone it made no sense to try and contact him for a meeting when someone would have to go see him in person anyway to organize said meeting. She was a very practical person, that Tsunade. It was no wonder she lead a successful company.

Since he didn't know where Sakura's office was within the large building, Kakashi just continuously asked everyone where he could find a pink-haired girl. He figured that was a pretty significant trait as it certainly wasn't a common hair color. It didn't occur to him that he could've narrowed his search down immensely by simply asking where the agents' office was located and then look for her there.

By the time he finally found her desk, it was possible that half the building had heard of the silver-haired man who was searching for the agent Haruno Sakura. Like he had assumed, her pink hair meant there was no doubt in anyone's mind of who he was looking for. No one ever went in to see her (she was a part-timer and she only had one client), so when an unkempt but perceivably good-looking guy made an appearance asking to see her, everyone became interested in him. He was only perceivably good-looking because he still wore a medical mask to attempt to relieve his allergies.

The majority of the workers somehow proportionately favored women unintentionally and they were terrible gossips. Tsunade never discriminated when it came to hiring, but it was quite possible that the demographics of her company were simply a result of men being afraid to work with her. She was a pretty formidable woman.

Despite the fact that she only had one client, Sakura's job didn't just cater around Kakashi even though she badgered him all the time. She had to do the same office duties that every other part-timer needed to do and had a certain quota of work hours she needed to fill in before focusing solely on her artist. Since Tsunade knew Kakashi was a special case, Sakura's quota was slightly smaller than everyone else because she spent much more time doing "field work" with the artist.

There were a lot of neatly aligned cubicles all over the room, but with his height, Kakashi was able to immediately spot the pink tuft of hair in the back corner of the room. Once he got there, he crossed his arms over the top of the front of the cubicle, rested his head on said arms and said a cheery "Yo!" to the girl in question.

At the sound of his voice, Sakura immediately glanced up from her paperwork and stared at him in shock for a good few seconds. Once the initial shock sunk in, she exclaimed his name rather loudly.

"KAKASHI!"

Sakura realized belatedly how loud she'd spoken and stifled the impulse to cover her mouth. The gesture would've only intensified her embarrassment. Then she started off in a significantly softer voice, "Mother of God, Kakashi, you scared the crap out of me."

"I noticed," he drawled. He knew she was agitated when she started omitting the honorary "sensei" from what she called him. He must've really given her a good scare.

"Can't you approach me like a normal person?"

She was frowning at him again. Kakashi thought it was rather sad how often she wore that expression in his presence. Still, her words puzzled him. He had thought he'd done a pretty good job of approaching her in an ordinary way.

"Like how?"

"I don't know, like…make noise when you walk or something. You shouldn't just _appear_."

"I'll have you know, I walked in quite normally, thank you."

"I meant you could've given me some warning."

"Left my cell at home."

Sakura grimaced.

"Again?"

"I take offense at that. I remembered to take it out with me yesterday."

"Yeah, when you didn't need it."

He held his arms up in defeat. "Well, I can't argue against that."

"Why do I feel like I'm _losing_ the argument whenever you say that?" She had mumbled it so Kakashi wasn't sure whether Sakura had been saying it to him or herself.

"You didn't come see me yesterday."

She rolled her eyes. "I was busy."

"But I was lonely," he countered.

Sakura had been about to say something to respond to his ridiculous statement when she noticed something odd. For the last few minutes of their conversation, the atmosphere in the office had felt largely different than usual.

Then Sakura finally figured out why. It was deathly quiet.

She looked around the room and saw the many curious gazes glancing in their direction. Some people had the decency to look away while others continued to stare unabashedly, hanging onto every word said, almost as if notes were being taken. In fact, as far as she knew, it was possible notes _were_ being taken and Sakura would be the target of the next big office scandal. Her face turned red, realizing how very unprofessional their conversation had sounded up until that point. She could only imagine what type of relationship people thought she had with Kakashi. Sakura stood up abruptly.

"You, follow me, right now. We need to have a _little chat_."

Kakashi knew when not to argue with his agent. She might have drawn out the last two words a little too much for his liking despite her moderately civil tone. Her aura was essentially screaming bloody murder at him as well. Despite all that, he still followed her, knowing it could get much worse if he didn't. He couldn't really think of how, but he knew that it could.

Sakura led him to the roof area where most people went to take a smoke break. When they reached it, no one was there. After scanning the empty area, Kakashi briefly entertained the idea that Sakura had hidden cameras throughout the building to let her know when places were vacant. It sounded pretty ridiculous, but he wouldn't put it by her. The girl had a lock-picking kit in her bag for crying out loud. There probably wasn't anything she couldn't do.

Once the door had closed behind him, the girl in question turned to face him.

"Kakashi, why are you here?" She'd gotten right to the point.

He repeated a similar statement to what he'd said earlier.

"You didn't drop by yesterday."

"I didn't have time." Her answer was also along the same lines. "Besides, you usually don't track me down every time I don't go and see you." She looked at him pointedly. "Why are you _really_ here?"

Although he had come there with good intentions, Kakashi didn't like directly stating that he had done so. Her asking that question really put him on the spot and made him feel a bit self-conscious.

He had been about to speak but she had looked away before he could get a word out and started to pace. Her next words had probably been her thinking out loud but he heard her all the same through her mutterings.

"How am I supposed to explain this to Tsunade-shachou? She's going to think I'm fraternizing during the job."

"Just tell her it was me." Kakashi failed to see how that was a problem.

She stopped pacing mid-stride and looked at him again.

"That's even worse."

He blinked. There was a slight pause before he spoke again.

"Uh…why?" Her response didn't make sense to him.

"_Because_ it means I can't keep my artist in line," Sakura enunciated the first word like she was explaining something simple to a little kid who had been repeatedly told the same thing over and over again.

Kakashi didn't know anything about workplace hierarchy and drama and any of those other little tidbits of craziness that got into people's heads when they worked with other people. It was one of the reasons why he avoided the workplace to begin with. He wisely chose to say nothing against her statement despite the fact that he couldn't see the correlation between the two things. She hadn't seemed to expect a response anyway and continued on her tirade.

"You know, a lot of people have two clients, but I'm stuck with just _you_."

He realized her emphasis on the last word had implied insult but he just replied, not even affronted by her words.

"So it has nothing to do with the fact that you're a student and only a part-time worker," he stated logically. "And therefore have other responsibilities beyond work alone."

Sakura paused and then wrinkled her nose. "Argh. I hate it when you're right."

"Charming," he replied dryly. In a different situation, he might not have tried to reason with her, but Kakashi could tell she was more flustered and frustrated than truly angry so he had chanced it. It was relatively easy to deflate her once she had gotten some of it out of her system. Then he just had to play the logic card. The poor girl must've been having a rough day.

He reached out and patted her head, bending a little as he did so, making him a little above eye level with her. His face was crinkled into a light smile. "Will you forgive me if I promise I come bearing good news?"

Her eyes slanted suspiciously. Kakashi's definition of good and her definition of good didn't always coincide. In fact, more often than not they usually didn't.

"What, did you finish a painting early or something?" Sakura had said it like it was the most unlikely thing in the world to ever happen. He continued to smile and then gave a little wink.

"Bingo."

She had obviously posed the question jokingly and hadn't expected him to mean it, so when he confirmed, she just stared at him open-mouthed for a couple of seconds to absorb the situation.

"I'm sorry," she began carefully when she finally found her voice again, "did you just say you finished your painting early?"

"Well, actually, I just confirmed your speculation, and you were the one that said it, but that was the general meaning, yes."

Silence ensued for a few more seconds.

"Seriously?"

Disbelief was written all over her face. Sakura just couldn't accept his words at face value and had to seek confirmation a second time because it sounded too good to be true.

"I'm 100% serious," Kakashi said cheerfully.

There was another pause.

"…who are you and what have you done with the Kakashi-sensei I know?"

He pouted. "Now Sakura, that just isn't nice."

"Kakashi-sensei," she started off. "With all due respect, your paintings are _never_ done early. I have to have a car rental service on charter to make sure they're available 24/7 to be able to pick-up and deliver on-call so that your work gets to exhibitions on time. I have to visit your apartment six days a week to make sure you're doing something every day so I don't have to run around as much later even though I somehow still end up doing that anyway. Forgive me if I'm finding it hard to believe that you already finished a painting due next week."

Kakashi really didn't know what to say to that. Like earlier, he had no defense because it was all true.

"Well, when you put it that way…" He trailed off as he saw the expression on her face, like she was trying to figure out something she'd missed originally. Her next words confirmed his thought.

"Wait a second. Are you saying you came all the way to the office just to tell me that? I was going to come and see you again tomorrow anyway."

Being asked again in such a direct manner brought back the slight embarrassment Kakashi had felt earlier when he had been about to answer her. He had been saved by her not-so-internal dialogue previously but he knew he wouldn't be so lucky a second time around.

"Since it's pretty much exactly as you said, because I finished earlier I figured it might be good to let you know as soon as possible since I give you so much trouble all the time…so I thought I'd try and do something nice for a change."

He knew the sentence was long and lacked punctuation and just all around sounded awkward. The hesitation and embarrassment slowed it down, but the desire to speak quickly to get it over with made him speak with odd pauses (or lack of pauses) and unnecessary words.

Her left eyebrow rose at his admission. "So you admit that you're usually a handful?"

"I wouldn't go quite as far as saying that…"

Sakura looked almost as if she was having a small argument with herself over his answer but then gave up and sighed. She would choose which battles were more important to pursue.

"Well, you did take the trouble to come out here to tell me so I suppose I should be happy."

He smiled beatifically, thankful that she wasn't going to delve into his inarticulate delivery. "That was the intention so if you're happy that's all I can ask for."

Kakashi was being a tad bit too nice and Sakura had to admit that it almost gave her the creeps. Something felt a little off about the whole thing, much like biting into a dessert expecting it to be sweet but finding it sour instead. Very rarely was she able to experience peace of mind around this man and it was for good reason. He might have carried a lazy and uncaring demeanor that threw people off his trail, but he had a few tricks up his sleeve as well if one wasn't careful. It was then that another thought occurred to her. Sakura's eyes narrowed fractionally.

"Kakashi…is there anything else you're not telling me?"

He looked contemplative for a few seconds. "Nope, not that I know of."

"Nothing at all?" It might have been his imagination, but her voice sounded a little more forced than before. He took note of it but continued on in his cheery manner.

"Why ever would you think such a thing, Sakura-chan? I'm hurt."

Her expression didn't change while she looked through his mock-hurt act.

"So you mean to say that you _didn't_ deliberately come to my office to start up some gossip? Oh, Kakashi, how naïve do you think I am?"

He smiled ever so slightly at her words.

"We all need a little fun in our lives, don't you think?"

She rolled her eyes again. It was becoming a terrible habit, one she noticed she practiced more and more lately, particularly in his presence. "Fun for whom, exactly? You or me?"

"Well it was definitely fun for me. I'm hoping it'll be at least a little fun for you too."

Sakura looked none too happy.

"You're insufferable, you know that?"

"Am I now?" Kakashi had the audacity to wink.

Sakura brought her hands up to her temples and started to rub them.

"Argh, go home. I don't want to deal with your shenanigans right now. You've pretty much canceled out your good deed for the day. I hope you're happy."

Sakura slowly maneuvered him towards the door by walking forward, causing him to walk in the same direction without thought. She was essentially shooing him out the door, or more in the door since they were on the roof and needed to re-enter the building.

"And Kakashi," Sakura started to say to get his attention. "The next time you decide you want to do something nice for me, please don't bother."

And then she just left, without even a wave goodbye. She hadn't even escorted him completely out of the building. She hadn't even escorted him completely back_ in_ to the building, in fact. Kakashi was left wondering whether her words referred to him going there to tell her the good news or having a little fun around the office.

When he'd originally gone there, the gossip-spreading hadn't been his intention, but her workplace had looked so dreary and workplace-like that he felt like he had to do something to lighten it up. And it was kind of amusing to see how many people pretended to be working while he was there when they were really just being nosy and all up in each other's business. So he might have spontaneously decided to imply something a little bit when he'd said that one line about being lonely without her. It wasn't something out of the ordinary in terms of how they teased each other but he also knew how it could sound to other people not as familiar with that dynamic.

Perhaps he did feel a teensy bit bad about the gossip Sakura was sure to suffer from for the next couple days, but just a little. He thought it to be fitting payback for all the times she drove him crazy at home with her deadlines. Never mind that he probably drove her just as crazy at those times for the same reasons but opposite angle. He could utilize a selective memory when it suited him. Kakashi didn't let the guilt plague him too much, though. It would blow over quickly and be as if it never happened.

* * *

The gossip in the workplace did not, in fact, subside in a few days. It seemed there really hadn't been anything better for the women to talk about. In actuality, it had started off simply as "Sakura's mysterious visitor," which was pretty tame if she thought about it; but it hadn't taken long until it progressed to "Sakura's man." And the stories that accompanied that particular assertion were outrageous.

They managed to twist the fact that he was still wearing the medical mask and somehow made him out to be the most handsome, dashing man to walk the earth. It was as if Sakura had become the heroine of a romance novel and they were all precariously living their fantasies through her. They even sighed dreamily sometimes after glancing in her direction when she entered a room; looking past her to see the imaginary man that could be behind her.

And it was oh so totally not lost on them that he had said he was "lonely" when she hadn't visited. That statement was apparently sexy as hell to many of them. Some weird crap about how it's _so_ strong of a guy to admit weakness to a girl he cared about.

If she really thought about the situation, it was a tad bit disturbing, but overall it was pretty harmless as well. As it was, discussions of "Sakura's man" continued for several weeks. She never corrected them but Sakura felt like if she had done so earlier, at that point in time, she might've gotten tired of it anyway and given up because there was nothing to be done. That didn't mean it still didn't bother her.

Tsunade didn't particularly care when her workers came in as long as they worked the required amount of time and were productive. Sakura was thankful for that freedom. Partially as a result of all the gossip, she had recently changed her schedule to start earlier or end later. That meant she got into the office before most people and therefore left work earlier, or she got into the office later and then would end work later than most people. Either way her contact with everyone during normal work hours was minimized as a result.

It had started off as a means to try and get away from the gossipy environment to have some peace. Later on she just noticed she kind of liked how much emptier it was during those times and continued that schedule. Unfortunately, the weird hours were starting to take a toll on her. It certainly didn't help that she was a student and her current chosen work times were not conducive to that status.

Her day had turned out to be another one of the late work days, except this time she hadn't purposely stayed late. It just happened. When her late workdays were planned, it usually worked out alright but the unplanned ones seemed to be happening more and more lately.

As she briskly walked out of the empty building, Sakura frantically looked at her watch the second time in the last thirty seconds, as if by checking it she could will the hands to move backwards. Unfortunately, she didn't have such special powers. There was no way she'd get back home on time. Even if she managed to make the last train from the station closest to the office, she wouldn't make it to the last train at her transfer station. She had missed the last one already. Again. Apparently the universe was telling her that she was due for another couch night at Kakashi's apartment.

Too tired to argue or even scowl at the cosmic powers that dictated it so, Sakura started the moderately short walk, wondering why any little distance had to feel that much longer when one was exhausted.

* * *

After unsuccessfully trying to sleep again, Kakashi finally conceded defeat and rolled out of the bed and headed towards the kitchen. He woke up to drink the can of soda he'd been letting sit in the fridge, figuring that if he couldn't sleep, he might as well do something.

He had already taken the can out of the door when he saw a pink blotch on the corner of the couch. Sakura must've left her keys at home again or missed the last train. They had created an unvoiced system where every time either event happened she was allowed to stay over at his place because it was significantly closer to the office compared to her apartment.

If it were the keys situation, then it would be the second time that week she'd forgotten them. He wondered if she were facing unduly amounts of stress that caused her to be more scatter-brained. She had a tendency to leave them home more often during high stress periods like midterms or finals, but it was much too early in the semester for that.

He found her whole key thing fascinating. Every extremely organized person generally had one flaw, and for Sakura it was her keys. For some reason, she always managed to lose them. Luckily, she usually just left them in a location in plain sight at home, so it wasn't really a security issue. What made it annoying to the girl was it was a reoccurring problem. More often than not, the reason she would 'lose' her keys in the first place was a result of her not putting them back to her designated "key spot," because it wasn't where she expected them to be. Then she would freak out and it would become harder to find them.

In Kakashi's view, that was a point in his favor of why her considered organization to be overrated. One thing he just couldn't understand was how she never managed to lose his keys as it was always only hers that she left behind.

So she was there again. Kakashi sighed and put his soda can on the kitchen counter lightly. He knew more than anyone how uncomfortable that couch was to sleep on for more than a casual nap. In fact, even the casual nap was pushing the edges of comfortable.

He had been meaning to give her something better to sleep on for a while, what with how often she forgot her keys, but this was one of the rare moments when what he planned to do was given such a rare opportunity to be fulfilled.

Kakashi walked into the other room that he was temporarily using as light storage and pulled out his old futon from his previous apartment. It was from a time before he had moved to a place big enough to have a full-sized bed out 24/7. The bedding wasn't tattered, stained, or filled with holes, but it showed signs of use. If anything, it definitely didn't have the look of a futon that someone had just bought from a store. He had used it for around five years after all. It was expected to have some wear and tear.

Once he got to where Sakura was sleeping on the couch, Kakashi knew better than to move her, as she would probably wake up, punch the lights out of him, and then ask questions after he was sprawled in pain on the floor from a bleeding nose. So he opted for simply putting it next to her.

"What's this?"

Her voice was heavy with sleep but her question was still audible. She was obviously awake but hadn't moved from her position lying down. He had tried to be stealthy and failed but didn't blame himself too much. Sakura was a light sleeper.

"Use it when you stay over," Kakashi answered simply.

"It's not like I intend to make it a normal occurrence," she mumbled, dragging herself into an upright sitting position.

"Even so, just use it. It's clean, I promise. No lice, fleas, or ticks living in there." He added a smile for flourish.

Sakura didn't seem too impressed with his guarantee.

"I'm serious." He tried his best to look serious too.

Sakura sighed, which keyed him in to the fact that he'd probably failed miserably.

"I know. But I don't have the energy to even contemplate why you would have to reassure me that your old futon was lice-free."

"You forgot flea and tick-free," he added helpfully.

Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Yes yes, I get it."

"Just covering all my bases, you know."

"Kakashi?"

"Hmmm?"

"I'm tired. Go away."

"Yes, ma'am," he answered obediently and gave a mini salute, then turned and started to head back to his room. He didn't take it personally that she was a bit more brusque than usual. She had just woken up and he was the reason for it no matter how good his intentions had been.

"Kakashi."

This time when she called his name, he didn't reply but simply turned around to face her in query.

"Thank you," she said simply.

He smiled, turned back around toward his room, and gave her a small back-wave in acknowledgement. Kakashi felt a small sense of satisfaction when he heard her shuffling around to transfer over from the couch to the futon.

She would be her same bossy self the next day and they would probably drive each other crazy, like they always did, but he had to admit he almost liked the Sakura that was grumpy from sleep. It was kind of endearing and was quite possibly the only time he was able to see her so unguarded and natural. She usually had to run around for him and always seemed so responsible and organized, but when she was tired, she was just like everyone else with her weaknesses and expressed unhappiness with something as small as being woken up.

Once he got back to his room Kakashi realized that he'd left his soda on the counter. He'd originally gone to get it because he hadn't been sleeping well and for some reason flat soda had the 50/50 chance of either waking him up or making him sleepier. Going back out to get it would mean probably disturbing Sakura again, and he found for that reason alone, he was content to let it sit there. Most people thought flat soda was disgusting anyway. So he got back into his bed and although he didn't fall asleep right away, it didn't take too long for him to drift off to sleep eventually.

* * *

The next morning, Kakashi was unsurprised to see that futon had been neatly folded and put away by the time he'd woken up. The can of soda he'd left the night before was also nowhere to be seen. He could've said he was surprised by the breakfast that had been left and covered on the counter, but that wasn't unexpected either. Sakura didn't exactly make breakfast for him every day, especially since she didn't even live there, but she usually tried to cook food for him when she could because he had a tendency to skip meals without meaning to. He would simply forget to eat; and she knew he had that habit.

When he was done eating, he put the used dishes in the sink and walked over to the living room. Then he opened the curtains and looked out the window, almost instantly regretting it as the sun temporarily blinded him. He had been trying to gain some energy from the rays but it proved to be a bit too strong for him and he closed the curtains again, leaving just a little crack open to let a hint of light into the room.

Once that was settled, he sat in front of the blank easel he'd propped up the day before and grabbed an unused medical face mask from a drawer located nearby. Besides just wearing it outside when his allergies were being unreasonable, since he had a very sensitive nose, he often wore that type of mask over his face when he worked because it helped to filter the smell.

Seeing as he was initiatively painting again a couple weeks after he finished a painting early, he couldn't help but chuckle a little at the thought of Sakura's reaction if she stumbled upon him working. He didn't know if she would be able to handle two successive shocks.

Kakashi wasn't feeling inspired, per se. He really had no plan or thoughts in mind of what he would paint. It wasn't about work this time. Sometimes he just had to paint for himself to remind himself why he liked doing what he did without worrying about standards or what other people thought or the dreaded deadlines. People in the arts who followed their passions as occupations sometimes needed to remember that what they did wasn't just a job but also their hobby.

Just as he'd picked up his brush and was about to start mixing colors, he felt a strange sensation pulling him backwards, like a really strong vacuum suction. It had been windy lately, but he didn't think it was strong enough to go through a closed window.

The wind-like force got stronger and he knew that it would probably suck him into its vortex. Before he was completely swallowed by it, instead of panicking like most people, Kakashi was struck by the funny thought of how interesting it was that he was the only thing moving as his home looked untouched and unaffected.

As he disappeared, his paintbrush slipped out of his hand and clattered to the ground, becoming the only thing that seemed out-of-the-ordinary in the very still room. A split second after it made impact, something much larger and heavier landed next to it.

* * *

A/N:

1) So I'm hoping that ending ties this chapter into the previous one well enough. If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm just going to say it flat out that this story focuses on two worlds. One could be considered semi-canon and the other is an AU one. Yeah, I obviously like to make a lot of work for myself -_-;

2) Why does Sakura still call Kakashi "sensei" in this world? I don't pretend to be an expert, but from the years I've studied the Japanese language and culture, it's typical to call people of high practicing arts such as novelists and mangakas "sensei" as well (not just teachers and doctors). I'm not 100% sure if it's the same for artists, but I took a leap of faith based on the other ones so hopefully it's accurate. Or if it's not accurate, at least it semi makes sense.

3) Am I going to write more about Tenten's wedding? Uh…no, probably not. I'm guilty of introducing it in passing for Sakura's conversation with Ino. The main reason? I don't really want to write a million different pairings in this story. Two Kakashis and two Sakuras are enough for me, thank you. Feel free to imagine her with whoever you like. Hopefully in the future I don't accidentally contradict that image when I introduce other characters (who are decidedly not married or engaged and therefore cannot be paired with her). I'm planning on using several familiar characters in to kind of shape the AU world, but I might not use them extensively. Some might just be mentioned in passing.

4) I know someone will ask this so I'll just address it now. Sakura is around 20-years-old in this story. Since I'm not completely following the canon timeline anyway, I made her that age because that's the age you're considered an adult in Japan. It might be lower in the world of shinobi in the Naruto series, but since Sakura's living on her own, it made sense for her to be a legal adult.

5) I claim no knowledge of office settings (besides the one I work in) nor how the artist business really works. I don't know how agents and artists work together or even if artists have agents at all. I completely made it up.

Upon further inspection, I may have unintentionally modeled this agent-painter relationship after Junjou Romantica's editor-writer relationship, but that was purely coincidental. At least in the sense that I wasn't trying to do that but it kind of happened and then I noticed the similarities only after I was finished.

6) I promise I don't intend on leaving super long A/N like this all the time. Believe it or not, I've actually been trying to cut it down continuously. What can I say, I like to explain things, I guess. Like in this chapter, if there happens to be things I think need clarification or explanation that somehow didn't fit in the chapter, then I'll add it at the end so I don't accidentally spoil anything. Hence why my beginning notes were called "Pre-chapter A/N."


	3. Chapter 3: Common Ground

Pre-chapter A/N: Now that I've established this AU world, I'll mention a kind of disclaimer related to it. Although I'm sure there are other stories/movies/books that use an idea like this, the parallel worlds I made for this story was influenced by and loosely based on the Japanese movie "Real Onigokko" or the English-adapted title "The Chasing World." Having said that, you don't need to know anything about that movie in order to understand this story.

Since I noticed Chapter 1 and 2 were updated essentially a month apart, I decided to try and post Chapter 3 by the end of August. It's getting rather close to that deadline, don't you think? Pray with me that I'll finish Chapter 4 in a timely manner…or I won't be back for a reeeeally long time.

* * *

**The Blood Diamond Paradox**

**Chapter 3: Common Ground**

* * *

Sakura was frozen to the spot, staring at the cloud of dirt and dust where the entrance Kakashi had gone into used to stand, still not fully comprehending what had happened. Quite honestly, she was terrified that the body on the ground would end up being Kakashi; dead. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was very wrong and she was hoping that her partner being dead wasn't the reason.

After a few more seconds of contemplation she finally worked up the courage to make her way to the rubble, knowing that she couldn't postpone the inevitable any longer. As she got closer and the smoke cleared, she saw that there was no getting around the fact that the body on the ground was definitely Kakashi. Her heart sank.

The medic in her had Sakura checking his vitals right away. She tried not to think about how close she was to the person she was examining in order to maintain her focus. Personal ties needed to be ignored if she was going to approach the situation with a calm head. Kakashi stirred a little from the contact but remained unconscious. She breathed out a sigh of relief that he seemed to be okay.

Since she had finished the preliminary checks, Sakura dug deeper and started to observe his flow of chakra. She paused. It was then that she found out what had been bothering her and what hadn't felt right the last few minutes.

She hadn't been able to sense any chakra after the explosion, even when she'd seen a body. Kakashi had no chakra at all. That shouldn't have been possible. It wasn't that he was shielding it either. She had gotten skilled enough that she was able to catch the faint hints of chakra on an almost microscopic level being emitted that marked a person's existence. However, in the man in front of her, there was nothing. There wasn't even the presence of chakra residue that was a result of being exposed to other people. He simply had…nothing.

One of the first and most basic lessons that young pre-Genin learned at the Academy was that zero chakra could only signify one thing: a dead body.

But the body in front of Sakura was very much alive.

She quickly ran through all the possibilities in her mind. He couldn't be a kage bunshin because those had chakra. If he were a puppet, upon examination, she would have been able to notice and trace the chakra strings attached to the body even if the body itself was only an object. It was possible that he was an Edo-Tensei-brought-back Kakashi, but that would've meant he died and was summoned immediately from the afterlife. That was logical in a way but it also would've meant there had to be a sacrifice handy to plant the control kunai in and it completely ignored the fact that Edo-Tensei-controlled bodies still had chakra or they wouldn't have been able to use their old abilities.

Sakura was fresh out of options.

She stared at the man in front of her.

"What _are_ you?"

* * *

Kakashi woke up with a pounding headache. He would've thought he'd been smart enough not to overindulge in alcohol in the first place, but if he had, he was usually smart enough to drink some type of hangover relief concoction later to lessen the effects. But to his memory, he hadn't drunk anything last night except a single sip from his flat soda, and that really shouldn't have affected him so strongly.

As he slowly opened his eyes, he saw a familiar shade of blurred pink while he tried to regain focus. Whatever he was lying on was really hard and he wondered what on earth he'd fallen asleep on. He was about to ask Sakura about it when he noticed that she was dressed strangely.

She usually wore hairbands, but the one she had on carried a bizarre insignia on a metal plate. It was a little bigger and flashier than her typical style. Her clothing was in her favored red-colored style, but it was also an outfit he was unfamiliar with. What stood out the most was the strange expression on her face, as if she viewed him like some type of alien from another planet. He was sure that sometimes the thought crossed her mind when he did something she deemed ridiculous, but it wasn't quite the same as the look she was shooting his way now. She actually looked like she believed it.

"You're not Kakashi-sensei," she stated finally. He looked at her quizzically. What on earth was he supposed to say to that?

"Of course I am," he responded.

"But you _can't_ be him," she denied. He could tell that while her tone sounded strong, she looked uneasy and unsure of herself.

"Look, Sakura, I don't really know what's going on but—"

She jumped back when he'd said her name and drew a weapon that looked awfully like a kunai from a bad ninja movie, holding it towards him like he was some type of threat. He didn't need to see it up close to figure out that the kunai she held was probably real and not just a movie prop. He put both his hands up to assume the stereotypical nonthreatening pose of peace but that didn't seem to appease her.

"Stay where you are." He hadn't been moving to begin with but he tried to show he was attempting to follow orders and made himself stiller, if that were possible. "Now, who are you and what have you done with Kakashi-sensei?"

"Sakura, I don't—"

"Stop saying my name like you know me!"

He hadn't expected the vehemence of her response but said nothing about it. The situation was very weird and it was raising more questions as time went on. Kakashi entertained the idea that Sakura was playing some type of strange game but he didn't think she could be that good of an actress.

She motioned briefly to his left eye. "Your disguise is a little fail, don't you think? One can't be the famous Copy Ninja without the sharingan."

Kakashi blinked in confusion. Sharingan? What the hell was she talking about? Was that some type of code word for something? He thought about the entire situation and then something occurred to him, something that could possibly make sense of everything. In that context, the weird clothes and weapon could be explained.

"Oh wait, I got it now. This whole thing is about that Halloween costume party that the company throws every year. I know you're upset about it still, but I told you that I'm not going again this year. And even if I was, there is no way I'd let you pick my costume. Although the ninja costume idea is cute, there is nothing ninja-looking about your outfit. Also, I'm thinking it wouldn't go well that you're carrying a real weapon, you know, and—"

"Would you SHUT UP for one second? I have no idea what garbage you're spewing."

Kakashi decided it was a bit rude of her to interrupt him in such a way, but then again, he had kind of been blabbing a bit, which wasn't like him. She didn't look too impressed with him either. Normally, Sakura might have laughed it off, but this girl really looked…well, rather upset and freaked out. Something didn't add up.

What was going on? If it was some type of joke, Kakashi felt like it was long overdue to be over, which made him decide that it really wasn't a joke at all. It was as if they were speaking two different languages. He was beginning to realize that although they were both listening to what the other said, they didn't truly _understand_. The girl in front of him looked exactly like Sakura but she didn't know him. He thought maybe they could try a little joint reasoning.

"Look, I'm going to entertain the idea that it's possible we don't know each other somehow, but the situation itself isn't any clearer having said that. I was in the middle of painting—"

"Painting?" the Sakura look-alike scoffed. "You've obviously gotten your information bogged up somewhere. Another team member of mine paints but it isn't Kakashi-sensei."

She was clearly not open to that idea. Kakashi tried to briefly look around without getting her attention so he had to move his eyes very slyly, lest she get the impression he was seeking help from some imaginary enemy she contrived in her mind. He had no doubt at that point that she viewed him as an enemy.

The area he managed to glimpse through his quick scanning and peripheral vision was unfamiliar and outdoors. Kakashi lived in a city. The most outdoors he got was walking around the neighborhood and going to the small residential parks scattered here and there. This place was _really_ outdoors, like out-in-the-wilderness type of outdoors, the real deal. There was no real explanation of how he got there from his small apartment. He started to recall feeling a certain inexplicable strong pulling sensation before he blanked out. It was the only anomaly in his pretty standard schedule, so he would go with it and run.

Though Kakashi still had the problem of the currently armed (and probably dangerous) girl standing in front of him. Her reaction to his use of her name gave him the impression that it really was her name, but he had to confirm something before he could solidify his inferences into a more concrete theory.

"Your name wouldn't happen to be Haruno Sakura?"

"So you finally admit you don't know me?"

Instead of answering right away, he held out his hand in offering, taking care to do so slowly so she wouldn't be alarmed. She looked at it suspiciously but didn't move back.

"Hello, Haruno Sakura, my name is Hatake Kakashi. But I'm not the Kakashi you seem to know, just like you're not the Sakura I know."

She looked perplexed and her weapon lowered a little in her confusion. Noticing this, she quickly brought it back up, her expression hardening.

"Will you say something that makes some sense?"

"On the contrary, it's probably the thing I've said that makes the most sense so far."

Her eyes narrowed. "Explain yourself."

Kakashi sighed, knowing that she wouldn't take his deduction well. Heck, he even thought he was crazy for just thinking of it, but he really couldn't find a better explanation based on his observations.

"What I'm trying to say is, I think I'm from a different dimension."

* * *

Sakura blinked.

"You have got to be kidding me. That's the best thing you could come up with?"

"Do you happen to have any other suggestions?" Kakashi asked her pointedly.

She really didn't, but how was she supposed to believe that bogus story?

"But that's ridiculous."

"We're here, aren't we? This situation can't get more any more ridiculous than that."

She had to admit that was true, but she needed to maintain her strong front against him so he couldn't take advantage of her on a possible moment of weakness.

"Stop answering me with more questions."

"Then stop dissuading what I say without really thinking about it. That's the only way we can figure out what's going on."

Sakura decided that he had a point (again,) if he was actually telling the truth and was just as confused as she was, but how could she believe him? Her thoughts must have been obvious from her expression because he spoke again addressing it.

"Can't you use some ninja ability to check that I'm telling the truth or something? Like a lie detector or Veritaserum?"

She had no idea what Veritaserum was, but she _had_ recently learned a mind jutsu from Ino that somewhat fit those parameters. Although, she had to admit that even using the word "learned" was a bit of an overstatement. The jutsu was workable at best and incomplete at worst. She would be taking a huge risk by using it.

Someone from the Yamanaka Clan would be able to perform the jutsu to its best capacity, but even a non-clan member like herself who didn't possess that particular bloodline was able to do it on a lower level. Their clan was most definitely exceptional at combining and executing mind jutsu, but they didn't have a Kekkei Genkai.

Most people would consider mind jutsu invasive and didn't willingly submit to them because it left them vulnerable and defenseless, but if he was willing, that had to count for something.

Still, she hesitated to use it despite all the good it could do. In all honesty, she actually wasn't supposed to use the jutsu yet at all because certain jutsu had the potential to be so damaging that their use needed to be monitored. For those jutsu, users had to be specially certified by their respective villages to be able to use them without being apprehended or tracked down by hunter nin if they ran. It was a pretty big deal.

Sakura supposed that was where the idea of forbidden jutsu came from since some were so terrible that no one could be allowed to use them. But Sakura's case wasn't quite as extreme. Sure, the mind was a very fragile and delicate thing to mess with (which was why 99.9% of mind jutsu, with the exception of genjutsu, which was its own category, often required one to be a certified user to perform it) and she could seriously get into a lot of trouble by using this jutsu, but she thought she was justified in this case. Sometimes shinobi had to make hard decisions and desperate times called for desperate measures. Their situation was unique and she had to be able to trust him in order to make sure he wasn't a threat and could thereby bring him back to Konoha with her.

It was also true that she should have been a bit more worried about letting down her guard to perform the jutsu, because it left the user just as vulnerable as the one it was performed on. However, Sakura didn't have much of a choice. She and Kakashi had come on the mission alone. Only Tsunade really knew where they had gone. There was no way for her to call for back-up nor could she expect any to be sent. And quite frankly, she really couldn't stand there all day waiting for back-up that had a low probability of coming. There was also the added problem that just because _she_ didn't have back-up didn't mean that _he_ didn't. The fake Kakashi's back-up could already be well on their way and that would leave her royally screwed. Essentially, time was really not on her side, so the faster she could determine if he was trustworthy, the better.

"Okay," she said finally, and lowered her weapon as a sign of truce. The man sighed in relief but it was short-lived. Sakura motioned to the ground in front of her. "Sit."

He looked like he wanted to protest at such a blatant command but did as instructed without complaint. Sakura sat on her knees in front of him. It wasn't the most comfortable sitting position, but it allowed her to be closer to eye-level with him. His torso was quite long so even though he sat cross-legged, he would still hold significant height over her if she were to assume the same (more comfortable) cross-legged position.

"Close your eyes," she instructed further.

He smirked a little. "Are you going to kiss me? Contrary to how I may look, I'm not the kind of guy who kisses on first dates."

Sakura looked at him, horrified, and followed her first impulse to smack him hard on the arm. Kakashi's body slanted diagonally, following the direction of her slap and he winced in pain. It had been un-enhanced strength, but Sakura was still a strong girl and it hadn't been a light hit by any standards. Belatedly, she realized he was joking and probably shouldn't have hit him quite so hard, but she was leaving it to stress that her control was a little less than perfect. If she hadn't been so embarrassed by his comment, she might have commended his lack of a strong reaction. Heck, Naruto had the freaking Kyuubi in him and he still flinched dramatically when she let him have it.

"You're _such_ a pervert that I can almost believe you're the real Kakashi-sensei."

"I was only trying to lighten the mood a bit..."

"Well for future reference…just don't."

"Okay. I got it." If his voice sounded a bit curt and a little wheezier than earlier she didn't comment. It was time to get started.

The jutsu she would perform was a mind jutsu that borrowed certain elements of genjutsu, but the two really weren't the same at all. Both of them would remain seated as they were physically, but once activated, Sakura would be able to peruse his mind.

She had been told by Ino that the effectiveness of mind techniques relied heavily on the user's ability to create strong visual images. The key was to make the images as clear and detailed as possible so one could literally see it in their mind's eye. The person had to imagine what they thought would be the best image to represent what they were doing, which is why each jutsu came out differently depending on the person. It was very exacting and personally based. She supposed that visual capacity was one of the reasons why the Yamanakas owned a flower shop. Flower arranging was a very visual art.

The necessary seals had been performed and she activated the jutsu. The person whose mind was being viewed would remain in a static state of unconsciousness the whole time, but if necessary, she would be able to communicate with him through the telepathic link of being in his mind. He wouldn't be able to answer her in words, but she would be doing most of the communicating anyway.

When Ino had told her what her experience was like when she went through someone's mind, she had said that it felt more like swimming in a foggy purplish endless plain until she came across what she was looking for. To Sakura, being in someone else's mind felt like sifting through an album or digging through boxes. Sometimes she found herself doing a combination of both. Sakura automatically saw herself organizing things or looking for something very much akin to a research assignment. She supposed it showed a difference in their personalities.

As such, Sakura started to imagine herself picking her way through boxes. It could be because of all the excitement earlier, but neatly sitting down and digging through a book just didn't seem like it would work. Either way, nothing happened. The cleft between her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. It wasn't supposed to be this hard. Sakura hadn't had this amount of trouble since she had first started learning the jutsu. She kept trying, but to no avail. The girl nearly growled in frustration.

The concentration required to perform the jutsu was much like chakra control. One had to imagine it, see it, feel it, and then control the flow of energy that sprung from one's fingertips. It was a well-established fact that Sakura was not lacking in the chakra control department. She was a thinker, after all. That didn't mean she wasn't someone who took action nor did it always lead to success, but once she had understood the concept and was able to translate it to real-life from book knowledge, her ability had soared. That was why it was so surprising when she was unable to conjure up the proper image.

Without realizing it, Sakura had let her mind wander. Her concentration wavered for just a moment, but it was enough to change the scene in front of her. And it was drastically different than she had imagined. She wasn't standing in a room surrounded by cardboard boxes, but was instead walking on a grassy hill at night. It should have been completely dark as she could see no stars or moon or anything that would have lit the dark sky but it wasn't pitch-black. Not quite understanding how she had gotten there, Sakura observed the scene in front of her, trying to find any clue to help her pinpoint her location and what had happened. As she wandered around, she felt like she was going around in circles. The grassy hill had been left behind, but there seemed to be an endless plain. She didn't know what she was searching for or how long she'd been there.

The environment was starting to affect her, she realized. It was stringing her along. There was a light mist around that didn't let her see beyond a few feet in front of her, so her earlier assertion about the plain continuing on forever could have been very wrong. The thought had just appeared in her mind unwittingly. Once she had realized that thoughts not her own were being transplanted, she stopped walking. There was more going on then she had originally thought and it wasn't just a straightforward, mindless exercise anymore. Sakura wasn't even sure if she could remember what she was doing in the first place or why.

Ino had mentioned something similar to the situation. There were other dangers to mind jutsu than simply breaking the mind of the invaded person. It was the other reason why clans often specialized in the techniques. Most people were afraid to use them because unlike most jutsu, mind jutsu weren't always a one-way street. They could seriously mess up the user as well if their opponents had strong minds. There were horror stories of some losing their minds, quite literally, being trapped in their intended targets minds' forever; having to deal with whatever that person deigned to inflict upon them.

Besides leaving her physical body prone and vulnerable, Sakura hadn't really taken into account the collateral damage she could inflict on herself mentally when she had first considered using the jutsu. Perhaps it was his earnestness and seeming honesty, but she had felt no malicious intent from the man in front of her and had therefore plunged straight in. She began to question whether that had been such a great idea. Going with one's gut often proved to be right, but Sakura usually ruled with her head and these types of situations were why.

She started to wonder if she'd ever find her way out. Sakura tried to pull herself together before the panic and depression overtook her senses. If she was going to go down, she would go down fighting, like a true shinobi. The one mistake could prove to be her undoing, but all was not lost. Besides being led around by the nose, nothing had really been thrown her way. Any number of terrible things could have happened. It occurred to her that it could be that she was just lost. Since she had no sense of where she was going or what she was trying to find, she might have been wandering the outermost area of his mind. If she didn't know where to go, how was his mind supposed to accommodate her?

Feeling decidedly stupid after her mini breakdown, she tried to think about the situation more. She needed to find something to check if he were trustworthy. The first thing she should be looking for would be his memories. Who was he? Why did he have the same name as her sensei? How did he know her name? He had said earlier that he didn't think she was the Sakura he knew, which meant there was the possibility that he knew someone who looked like her with the same name. There were just too many coincidences going on for her liking.

If she focused on her goal, she was likely to be presented with a destination. It was possible that Kakashi's mind was so cooperative that it let her wander about aimlessly since she had no target in mind.

There was a chance that the reason she had been unable to make the jutsu react in the usual way, where she could control the imagery, was because he was much more visual than her, and therefore his mind was the one commanding the scenery. The home ground was his as well so it didn't even have to be a conscious effort on his part.

During their training, Ino had often led Sakura astray when she had practiced on the blonde, she just hadn't remembered it because it was easier to forget things that happened on the astral plain in another's mind when she returned to her own body. That was just the nature of things.

Eventually, Sakura came across a wooden bridge. It wasn't large or very grand, but she couldn't see more than partway through it. The fog shrouding around her was still present and it covered the path beyond the bridge. There was a pond beneath the bridge and Sakura wondered what could be in there but was terrified to look. Water symbolized many things in dreams and since she was in the location that generated dreams, she didn't know what she would find.

Not being able to see the whole bridge was disconcerting, to say the least. Sakura was tempted to stay safely on her side even though she knew the only way to go was forward. It certainly didn't help that the fog reminded her of the fight against Zabuza and Haku. However, thoughts of that first real mission also imprinted on her mind that not everything was what it seemed.

She had been wrong earlier, hadn't she? Kakashi's mind had no ill intent towards her originally but she had treated it as such. She could have stayed there forever if she hadn't gotten her wits about her. Who was to say that the ominous, scary-looking bridge didn't have sunshine and unicorns on the other side?

That wasn't really what she was looking for, but the Kakashi she knew always did have a strange sense of humor. It was possible that his look-alike did too. She might not always understand him, but Sakura trusted her sensei with her life. She wasn't able to say the same for the man who shared his name and looks, but he hadn't really done anything to betray her trust thus far. And honestly, what choice did she really have? She could either move on or stay there for eternity. So instead of doubting him, she would trust that his mind would lead her to what she was searching for.

Taking in a large gulp of air, Sakura squared her shoulders and started to walk towards the bridge before she second-guessed herself again. The mist engulfed her as she went.

* * *

When he woke up from the strange trance, Kakashi noticed that the self-proclaimed Sakura's eyes were still closed. A moment later, he found himself staring into a vibrant green. He couldn't put his finger on what it was, but her expression was very different than it had been previously. She almost looked calm. That was probably it, he realized. She looked calm. Earlier, she had been tense, a little angry, and afraid. There were no traces of that anymore. What had caused the transformation?

She stood up and then held out her hand towards him. He wasn't sure whether to take it, but when she looked at him pointedly he quickly grabbed her hand, not wanting to experience another slap in case she lost her temper with him again. Kakashi didn't know what the girl was capable of, but if her slap earlier was any indication, he was going to try and stay on her good side.

He didn't know what she did, but apparently whatever it was had worked and she trusted him. Kakashi couldn't recall a thing that had happened but it seemed like it had been enough. He just hoped she didn't know all his deep dark secrets now and would exploit them. That had the potential to be very bad indeed.

"We need to get back to Konoha."

"Kono what?"

Of course Kakashi wasn't stupid enough to not recognize it was the name of a place, but it was an automatic response, one that he regretted immediately after saying it because he knew how dim-witted it made him sound. She apparently didn't catch on or didn't care as she just answered it like any other question.

"Konoha. It's the place Kakashi—the other Kakashi, that is—and I are from."

He didn't miss the way she clarified the difference. In other words, she was now receptive to the idea that he was from a different dimension.

"I see," Kakashi said simply, not really knowing what else could be said.

Sakura looked at him. It was in her experience that unless you were Hyuuga Neji or Uchiha Sasuke, short answers like that often translated to 'I don't know what the hell is going on. I would like you to enlighten me but I'm too scared to ask you to do so in fear of coming off as a complete idiot.' So she answered his unspoken thoughts.

"Your earlier assessment of me being a ninja was correct. Konoha is the hidden shinobi village of Fire Country. I'll explain it while we walk there. It'll take significantly longer since we can't jump trees so we should have sufficient enough time for explanation."

The irony was not lost on him that he had earlier criticized her clothing for being decidedly un-ninja like when she was in fact a real, living, breathing ninja. Kakashi had never really been the type of person that wished for more excitement in his life, but he had a feeling that he'd be getting it anyway.

Ninja Sakura called his name and he had been fully expecting her to glare at him impatiently, but he found that instead she had a thoughtful frown on her face. He didn't know whether he felt better or worse that she seemed to be as confused as he was, but at least they had something in common.

* * *

Sakura wanted to get them as far away from the explosion as possible, but there were some things that still needed to be addressed so she decided only to take them a few miles away. It wasn't exactly the safest distance, but they couldn't travel too far because it took too much time. It had been a while since she had been on a mission that could be walked and she had forgotten how much slower it was to travel that way. Tree hopping was exhilarating and exhausting but it was much, much faster.

So she made use of the time. While they walked she had basically explained the world to him in a nutshell. Although it sounded easy, it actually was quite hard. Sakura had to ignore all naturally developed stops in her mind to really tell him _everything. _

Shinobi often had a lot of time constrains and therefore developed the ability to only communicate what was necessary in certain situations. Natural blocks had started to form in her mind into areas labeled as "unnecessary information." The problem was that she had to rearrange all of that now. The most fundamental things that everyone would know he didn't know, and things that might be important for the majority wouldn't actually matter much to him. It almost felt to her as if she were physically rewiring her brain. Sakura pledged to herself that she would never be a teacher. She could tell that she wasn't cut out for the job.

Eventually, she somehow managed to do it so he at least knew the basics such as the divisions of the continents into different countries, the hidden villages that dominated the larger countries, and the current political climate. She also explained concepts like chakra, ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu. She mentioned that specialized fields existed like the medical ninjas, but she didn't really go into too much detail about others. When all that was settled, they continued walking in a type of prolonged silence. After everything they had been through, the quiet allowed them to explore their thoughts more.

Sakura could see the questioning glances Kakashi threw her way but chose to ignore them. It was obvious that he was debating whether or not to ask her what happened and what she knew from the jutsu she had performed on him. The truth was she didn't know anything. Upon further thought, that statement was actually inaccurate.

She had come out of the jutsu changed to be sure, but it was more on an instinctual level than a level of knowledge. Sakura couldn't physically remember what she had learned about the other man, but she knew he was telling the truth. She had a feeling it had a lot to do with the mist, and the fact that she couldn't control what had gone on in his mind like she was supposed to be able to. Sakura couldn't remember anything beyond the mist after crossing the bridge. It had almost been like a barrier of sorts, but she knew it wasn't Kakashi who'd done it.

If he had been trying to hide specific memories, they would simply have been scattered about in a way that made it hard to make sense of them, like finding ripped pieces of paper that one would have to stitch back together like a puzzle to be able to understand anything. The bridge had been relatively easy to cross as well, so it wasn't like she had been prevented from passing.

The only explanation she could come up with was that there were locked memories in his mind, which was why they were harder to reach than most memories. Usually, locked memories also meant they were even barred from the owner, but she knew it was impossible for him to have his whole life locked away like that. There was the added fact that there was no explanation for her complete lack of recollection of anything that had happened. She was sure there was another reason for it, but she really had no idea what it could be.

Heading back to Konoha was really their only option. The mission had technically failed, and a blown up hideaway was decidedly not inconspicuous, but there was nothing she could do about that at this point and she needed to see the Hokage right away. The real Kakashi was missing and they were left with a different Kakashi. Copy Ninja Kakashi was a very prominent and well-known member of their circle. Not having him around for an unforeseeable amount of time didn't bode well for their village.

If she took this other Kakashi to Konoha, though, she would have to find a way to pass him off as the real Kakashi without tipping anyone off. The appearance would be easy. What to call him was easy as well. For appearance's sake, she would have to call him "sensei," but she recalled him mentioning painting, so it's possible he was an artist and therefore "sensei" would still be an appropriate title to address him by. The difficult part would be what to do about his obvious lack of chakra. She sighed but decided to tackle the do-able things first. They were safe enough away to start working on his transformation so she stopped walking so they could get temporarily settled.

"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura called to get her companion's attention. He looked up. Kakashi didn't seem surprised by how she addressed him, per se, but his expression might have clouded for a split second or two before disappearing like it had never been there. She could have imagined it. Sakura motioned with her hand at the same time she spoke, "Come here."

Like earlier, he obeyed but looked at her quizzically. She took out a simple kunai from her pack marked very slightly with a tiny red dot. Sakura performed a few hand seals and the kunai transformed into a set of a Kakashi-sized standard uniform.

She always carried at least one set extra for each teammate in the case of an emergency. One could never be too careful on missions. Blood splatters were particularly hard to get out of clothing not just because of the color, but also the scent. It wasn't very pleasant to walk around with everyone looking and smelling disgusting so she made it a point to have those uniforms on hand. Her travel pouch was a decently large size and transforming a few items didn't deplete the space needed to carry real weapons too much. Her own replacement uniform was disguised as an exploding tag with a blue dot on it.

For the most part, getting an extra copy of Kakashi's uniform was really easy seeing as he wore the standard uniform. The hard ones were everyone else's for different reasons. Sai's clothing originated from Root so it was impossible to get her hands on a pair. Naruto's was a gift from the late Jiraiya and there was no other copy readily available. Sakura had to work through a seamstress who specialized in mimicking outfits and custom-making duplicates. At least her own clothing was easy for obvious reasons so she never had to worry about that.

Clothes and the hitai-ate were completely different matters, though. Since there was so much meaning infused with the latter, it took a lot of convincing to get Iruka-sensei to issue extras to her. She had pleaded her case with Tsunade, knowing her shishou would understand the benefits of her idea. Of all the pieces that made up shinobi uniforms, the hitai-ate was the least likely to need to be replaced, but it did happen. With the Hokage's approval, Sakura was able to get what she wanted. She would receive ones that came with the standard blue band and thus needed to make some changes to match the ones her teammates wore, but it was a small task in comparison to getting them in the first place.

When she looked up, Sakura found him gaping at her. At least she thought he was gaping as she couldn't see his mouth since it was still covered up by a medical mask. It didn't occur to her until then that perhaps they didn't (or couldn't) do any jutsu where he came from. He didn't have chakra after all, so it would make logical sense.

Speaking of the medical mask, it was somewhat coincidental that he was wearing something that essentially covered the bottom of his face when the Kakashi from her world also wore a mask. She never did ask him why he was wearing it yet so she did just that to settle her curiosity.

Instead of answering, he made a motion as if he were about to take it off like she had just reminded him that he was wearing it and Sakura started to freak out. She screeched and held her arms forward, shaking them rapidly to try and dissuade him from continuing. Her eyes were shut tight.

"Leave it on!" she blurted.

Shocked by the strength of her words, Kakashi's hands stopped midair and he looked at her with an eye quirked up in question. The eye was the dark left one; the one that should have been a vibrant red color instead of a deep black. He didn't speak, waiting for her to explain.

Sakura stood there regretting her outburst more and more, blushing into a shade of dark scarlet, feeling distinctly silly in how she had said it like he were taking off more offending pieces of clothing that would be considered more indecent than simply a face mask. She tried to compose herself enough to give a decent explanation.

"It's just that…I've never seen your face before," she started out.

"…you've never seen my face?" he repeated and she realized the slight inaccuracy in her statement.

"I mean the other Kakashi-sensei's face," Sakura quickly corrected.

"Never?" he questioned.

"Never," she affirmed.

"And you don't want to see it now? Wouldn't that make you want to see it more?"

"It's not that I don't…it's just…"

"Just what?" he pressed.

"I feel like it would be…a bit…anticlimactic to see it now in this way."

"I see." Like a mimic of earlier, he said it in a way that implied he really didn't but was just saying he did anyway.

Sakura was having a hard time finding the right words to say and felt sillier with each second that passed.

"Look, just…could you just leave it on? Please?"

There was an interim of silence. Then he sighed in resignation.

"Alright. I suppose I can afford to leave it on until you're comfortable."

Sakura felt really stupid for her request but she couldn't shake the feeling that she should not be looking at his face. Based on their encounter so far, there was a 98% chance (she didn't really know how she determined that percentage) that whoever this Kakashi was had a face similar to the Kakashi she knew and she somehow felt that would be taking advantage of the situation. Also, it was just plain weird. Something about the whole circumstance didn't feel right to her and she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

She wanted to see his face _so bad_ and was nearly tempted to withdraw her request but that would probably have made her feel even more stupid so she ignored the impulse. Her reflexive outburst had unwittingly created a decision for her and she needed to follow it through or risk looking wishy-washy and immature. That was definitely not the image she wanted to establish with him.

Realizing that the whole mask situation had distracted from what she had been doing earlier, she looked down at the folded uniform in her hand and held it out to him. He looked at it somewhat suspiciously.

"It's the uniform of our village. You need to wear it so you don't stand out like a sore thumb." Kakashi nodded and took it after her explanation and unfolded it. Then he just stared at it for a really long time. "What's wrong?"

"Uh…how do you put this on?"

"…You're kidding me, right?"

But he didn't look like he was kidding because his eyes gave way to a sheepish smile underneath the mask. She let out a big sigh and walked over. After she explained how the uniform worked briefly, she walked back to her original spot and turned so she faced in the opposite direction to give him some privacy. She decided to use that time to figure out what to do about his chakra problem.

She'd barely come up with decent solutions when she heard him clearing his throat to get her attention. Sakura chanced turning around and saw that he was fully dressed. Considering how lost he was to put it on originally, it only took a few minutes for him to don the uniform.

When Sakura looked at him, she could almost mistake him for the Kakashi she knew except for the two dark eyes staring back at her. Although they were mismatched slightly in color, seeing a black left eye instead of a sharingan made her feel uneasy. It gave her a feeling of wrongness.

She noticed that he had gotten the majority of the uniform down, but had tried to put on his hitai-ate straight. She secretly commended him for figuring out that it was even supposed to go across his forehead and not in his hair like she wore hers. Sakura walked back over to him and gently took off the band. Then she re-tied it so that it slanted to cover his left eye and admired her handiwork.

He could definitely pass for Sharingan Kakashi in appearance.

However, once he took a step forward, the image was ruined. He didn't have the same lithe grace in his movement that her sensei did.

"Can you walk with one eye covered?" she asked him.

It wouldn't be fair to expect him to be able to move around gracefully, but there would be major problems if he couldn't walk around that way at all. There was only so much covering up she had the power to do.

He started to walk carefully in a wide circle, testing.

"I can manage."

Sakura nodded. It was honest and the best she could really ask of him. She would be able to get around that by saying he had some type of injury and that would explain why his movement was a little odd to anyone who might ask.

Now she just needed to figure out what to do with his chakra. She didn't think she could spontaneously make his body create chakra so that was out of the question. If she went along with her other idea to explain his lack of proper balance and pretended he had been pretty injured and she healed him, it was possible that for a short while, no one would think anything of him giving off only her chakra, but that would only be a very temporary measure. Sakura had a feeling this was going to be a much longer-term problem and therefore needed a long-term solution to counter it.

Nevertheless, they really needed to get going, so the temporary measure would have to do. Tsunade would probably be able to do something about it later and if she did it right, they would be able to last without extra probing until she got to the Hokage Tower.

To heal people, Sakura had to inject some of her chakra into their bodies and then the chakra would soothe and heal injured body parts. People being healed usually described the blue-green chakra as a cool, almost minty feeling, but in reality, they had to be open to the healing for it to work that way. Inserting one's chakra into someone, no matter how good the intentions may be, was still a form of invasion. People who were injured were usually in immense pain and wanted something to make that pain go away. In that sense, they sort of gave an unvoiced permission to the healer to invade. Besides healing, Sakura had never really heard of anyone trying to put their chakra into someone else's body unless it was for more nefarious purposes.

That was why what she was about to attempt scared her. She had gone through medical training, but she was by no means an expert. There was still so much Tsunade hadn't yet taught her. And trying to insert chakra into someone who was not injured was not something one really studied. It might have been done before and just never recorded, but she was even more worried because her situation was a strange one. The person she was trying to put chakra into had none at all. It was almost tantamount to putting chakra in a dead body. And when the body was dead, one didn't have to worry about details like accidentally killing them.

Despite her reservations, she tried not to let it show. A nervous doctor would make the patient nervous and that could only lead to problems. Sakura smiled at him reassuringly. She had explained chakra briefly to him while they had walked a safe distance away from the rubble and debris so this time she just explained what she was planning on doing.

"Lie down, please."

It might have been because she'd already ordered him around constantly since their initial meeting, but Kakashi didn't even send her a strange look at her command and immediately did as she asked. That should've made her feel better but it didn't. It actually made her feel monumentally worse. His compliance was a sign that he trusted her and she didn't even trust herself.

The mind jutsu had been successful, but at great risk. She knew it had most likely been a fluke. Had Sakura rewound time, she wasn't sure if she would've succeeded the second time. Internally, she reprimanded herself. It wasn't the time to think about what had already happened. She needed to focus on what was happening at that moment.

She had made him lie down before her explanation so he could start becoming comfortable with the position. Her goal was to have him as relaxed as possible. He automatically closed his eyes and assumed correctly that it was what she would tell him to do next. Sakura had the brief thought that even a sharingan-less civilian Kakashi seemed to learn fast. But there were still some things she needed to tell him.

"Do you remember what I told you about chakra?"

She waited until he nodded before continuing. "I've already explained its importance and purpose and that your lack of any is one of the reasons I couldn't trust you earlier. Others will notice the same thing. What I'm going to do next will probably feel a little strange, but I need you to bear with me."

"You probably do this kind of thing all the time, huh? As a medic." He'd said it in a light, joking tone, but she considered his question seriously.

Sakura hesitated, debating whether or not to tell him the truth.

"Actually, this will be the first time."

Kakashi opened his eyes and stared at her. She was worried that he would back out, but he stayed where he was. While he didn't look too encouraged by her words at least he didn't reject her plan outright. Then he closed his eyes again. She couldn't see his mouth exactly, but she could see around the corners of his mask that the muscles of his face stretched a bit and could make out the faint outline of a smirk.

"Can't say that's the type of 'first' I'd want to be for a woman, but I'll take what I can get. First guinea pig it is."

He'd gone and slipped in another innuendo in that statement but she stayed her hand. He was cooperating, after all, and if she did something it would defeat the purpose of trying to have him relax earlier. So she ignored it.

"You don't have to give me spoken permission to do this, but I need you to accept the energy that I'll be sending into your body so try not to tense up. It might create a negative reaction. The chakra system is like any other organ system in the body. The energy's going to have to flow through you completely. In other worlds, it'll circulate around your whole body continuously."

"Got it."

Sakura couldn't tell if his answer was mostly as a filler to move things along or if he was actually listening, but she continued anyway.

"Shall I start?"

He took a deep breath as if to prepare himself.

"Whenever you're ready. It's not like I'm going anywhere any time soon."

After being given the okay, Sakura started to generate chakra through her fingers and gingerly pressed the edges of her chakra-encased hands against his chest and he jerked away. She immediately drew back in alarm.

"What happened? Did I hurt you?"

He winced. "No, it just tingled."

"…tingled?"

"I didn't expect it to feel so cool."

Sakura resisted the urge to smack him again. She'd really been afraid that she'd hurt him and his reaction had simply been because her hands felt cold. If he had been a seasoned shinobi…but she had to remember that this Kakashi wasn't the one she knew, no matter how much he looked like him. Civilians couldn't be held to the same standard.

So Sakura reverted to one of the things she always did when she tried to block something out of her mind. She thought about things medically. If he reacted to the coldness of the chakra she produced, then his nerves were intact. Therefore, besides his lack of chakra, he would appear to be very healthy. However, that was the whole problem, wasn't it? His lack of chakra.

"May I continue?"

He closed his eyes again in answer.

She resumed her original hand position over his chest and then tried to release the energy a little slower, hoping it would give off less temperature. Kakashi stiffened a little in reaction to the contact but relaxed immediately. Sakura figured he had tensed up more in anticipation, so when he found the coolness to be weaker than he remembered, he was able to accept it more easily.

Since she wasn't concentrating on a particular body part to fix, Sakura decided to try and disperse the chakra as much as she could. She flooded his veins so it flowed through his blood, his respiratory tract so it would emit a faint trace while he breathed. Hopefully the latter would prevent any suspicions so no one would look beyond that. Shinobi could sense others (shinobi and civilians alike) by the presence of chakra. It was a habit that they would automatically probe lightly to sense chakra as a form of existence. Usually tracing that feeling of existence was sufficient. People only dug deeper to look at specific chakra signatures when they wanted to check something which is why it was so important that she didn't give them any reason to suspect that something was up with Kakashi.

The whole procedure took longer than Sakura expected because she worked at a slower rate than she was used to, but that was taking into perspective that when she usually did this, someone was badly injured or dying and shooting out as much chakra as possible was usually a good thing. Even with perfect chakra control, it was turning out to be a little tricky. That was probably a result of not being used to the procedure because once she got into the sync of it, it became easier. Before she knew it, Sakura was able to feel a steady flow of chakra emanating from Kakashi's body.

When it was over, she remained sitting for a little longer, feeling extremely drained and fatigued. Sakura looked around and realized it was already the evening. There was still some light spilling through the trees, but the sun was closer to the horizon than when she last looked. It would be impossible to reach Konoha before the next day so they would have to set up camp for the night.

Sakura's gaze returned to where Kakashi was still lying down but something about his position didn't feel quite right. She leaned in closer to examine him better and started to panic when she realized what was wrong.

He wasn't breathing.

* * *

A/N:

1) Harry Potter reference because yes, I'm a dork. Oh yeah, I went there. I did.

2) The way I made Ino envision being in another's mind is mimicking the way Inoichi was depicted going through a shinobi's mind. Can't recall the manga chapter or anime episode, but it was there somewhere.

3) It might seem a little pansy of AU Kakashi to have a hard time walking around with one eye covered, but do you guys know how difficult it is to walk around like that? Try it. It's damn hard. At least it was for me. I had an experience a couple years ago where I needed to put gauze over one eye to keep it closed. Every time I had to go somewhere was awful. I felt dizzy, my balance was off, my depth perception was also off, and I lacked peripheral vision on one side. I think you get the picture. It was pretty terrible. And I'm a naturally clumsy person so that made it worse. That ordeal really put into perspective how impressive it is that Kakashi is able to walk around like that _all the time_.

4) I admit that I'm not completely happy with this chapter, but it generally makes whatever I wanted to happen happen. I've been sitting on it as my last buffer for too long so I think it's time to send it out to the world. This however leads to point 5.

5) Chapter 4, guys. I have to mention it again but as I've said before, this is the last fully written chapter I have, and it's been in existence for months. I just needed to rewrite several parts and touch it up a few times. Now imagine an incomplete chapter. And then the editing that follows…That makes me feel like I'll never finish this story. That won't stop me from trying, though. So tune in next time…whenever that is…


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